


Picturing Love

by TessaTheTK



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Fighting, Friends With Benefits, Photography, Sex, because they deserve it, lena and kara are more emotionally healthy, lena swears a lot, some biphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:13:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 103,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28297320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TessaTheTK/pseuds/TessaTheTK
Summary: Lena is the co owner of a fighting organization, Kara is an up and coming fighter. Casual sex, racy photographs, and a documentary series shouldn't complicate things, right?-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Can we be honest?” Kara puts her hands to her hips in her signature pose “If I start to lose fights before this promo thing airs, you’re going to make it look like a view on all of the female talent.”Lena pouts, annoyed and impressed that she caught on so early. “Regardless,” She looks away from that damned smile “You’re going to be well compensated for your time.”“Well, time with you seems like compensation enough… so far.” She finishes teasing Lena by sticking her tongue out.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 36
Kudos: 160





	1. Chapter 1

Lena looks over the building, making sure it has the capacity they need, the security, the lighting…

Basically, all of the fun stuff. Lena makes her way down the stairs, checking if the seats are working properly, sitting in a few and checking that the view of the banners doesn’t interfere with the view of the octagon and the jumbotron.

-James ‘The Guardian’ Olsen vs Ben Lockwood **DEO 103** -

They really need a nickname for Ben.

She makes her way to lights, getting the techs to run them in time with the music entrances, making sure everything is suitably dramatic.

Ben has chosen the national anthem, red, white, and blue lights dance across the large venue. They can probably find some nickname with that, but the marketing department worries about feeding into his… less than charitable tweets about immigrants.

James insisted on ‘Fortunate Son.’ Everyone knows about his dad’s passing, so it makes people laser focused on him every time he comes out with lines of determination on his face. She motions for the tech people to stop the demonstration.

“Great job. I need you to run some light noise so I can see that the acoustics are right, I still have some people that can adjust speaker placement.” She leaves before they can trap her with jargon.

Each corner is great, the front row is fantastic. She sits in the middle for a long moment.

_Why do we use these shitty phones?_

She pulls out the shitty phone in question “I’ve hearing some echoing from the mid left section, can you guys tune it?”

A minute later, and the sound is perfect.

“Alright we’re good on sound and lights, pack it in and sleep well.”

She sits in the comfortable silence, that familiar and nervous excitement washing over her like it does every night.

Then Lex’s voice rings through her finely tuned building. “Kara, you’re a rising star. But rising is the key word here.”

“I’m getting girls interested in the sport. And I’m not asking for a raise.” A pleasant voice shoots back.

She likes the feistiness, someone standing up to Lex.

She finally spots them, and shrinks in her seat. All she can see from here is Lex’s atrocious hair piece and some blonde woman. And, my god, she’s taller than him.

The woman has her hands on her hips.

“I can put you on the promo. I have to go over it with marketing, because your part isn’t finished yet.”

_Liar_

The woman, Kara, extends a hand to Lex “Thank you.”

She waits for the woman to leave and makes her way down to Lex.

“Can you believe that girl?” Lex whines.

She cracks her neck “Those seats aren’t very comfortable.”

“Not when you’re crouching down in them like some stalker.”

She flicks his hair piece “Aw, you noticed me.”

“Hard not to. You going to have sex with one of my stars again?”

She puts a hand to her heart in a theatrical display of offence “I would never, and _have_ never.”

“James Olsen would beg to differ.”

“I bet he’d beg.”

Lex laughs, terrible hair piece bouncing on his head.

“Seriously though, me and James stopped being a thing once you signed him.”

Lex inhales like he’s about to make a point

“And, it’s not like it would have been bad if we stayed together. I don’t control that aspect of the sport.”

“ _I_ know that you control venues and location scouting, along with… you know-“

“Making sure you don’t go bankrupt?”

“But.” He raises a shielding hand as he goes down the staff exit from the stage “People are stupid, and it would have looked bad.”

“We wouldn’t have worked out either way, but it’s nice to know that you approved.” 

Lex motions for her to follow him to the parking lot, and as he’s her ride, she follows “Lena. You and James are two people I greatly admire.” He looks around and takes the hairpiece off “I hate this thing.” He mimes throwing it away, then pockets it “But it would have looked bad if you guys had continued seeing each other.”

“Okay, Christ. Stop talking about my love life and tell me about the match.”

Someone opens the door for them, not reacting to Lex’s worst kept secret of not having hair. “Well James is very against the whole ‘being a rampant refugee hater’ thing, so this is being looked at as a democrat against republican thing.”

“What side is the DEO taking?”

Lex starts and unlocks his car with two quick button presses “We’re libertarian.”

“That’s such a non answer.” Lena groans, even though it takes a huge weight off her back.

He gets in the car and waits for Lena to hop in as well before turning to her “I would have made such a great politician.”

“If you didn’t have the hair piece maybe.”

He revs the engine obnoxiously “What was that? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you over the sound of the Bugatti that I’m driving you home in.”

“You fu-“

He takes off dramatically, gluing her to her seat, knowing that being rich and sober can get him out of any potential trouble for the stupid speed he’s at.

Once on the highway, he turns to her and she can see Lex the brother, and not Lex the entertainer “Lena. You okay?”

She has to consider it for a moment, she’s very fulfilled career wise, looks amazing, has her pick of men and women. “Yes. I’m thinking of starting some female empowerment thing within the company, but besides that, I have what I want.”

Lex speeds up with glee “Thank god. Can’t have the glue dissolving when people are starting to take us really seriously.”

“I resent and appreciate being called glue.”

“Well,” Lex stops the car “Guess this is you.”

“I could just stay in the car.” She crosses her arms, indignant.

“Or, you could get some beauty sleep. And you know, let me get mine.”

She crosses her arms even more dramatically, knowing what that means.

“I will push for a special on the female fighters if you get out of my car.”

She slams the door closed “Excited to see your wife?”

“Nope!” He speeds away at this, bothering Lena, and no doubt her neighbours as well.

She makes her way up to her condo, wondering what the fight tomorrow is going to be like. She hopes James will win, because even though they stopped dating, he’s still a nice guy, and also didn’t retweet racist things. She pokes the elevator button, not willing to let the stress get to her, not willing to think of a backwards ass racist becoming the face of the sport.

She falls into her bed, more exhausted than she thought.

Lena wonders how the feisty woman will do, part of her rooting for this to be a time to show up Lex, give some more credit to the woman’s division.

..

She wakes in the afternoon to the alarm that needs to be changed every week to prevent her pulling her hair out.

She gets herself ready for the day, even cooking something marginally healthy. 

..

Five hours to fight night.

Lena calls Thea, needing someone to occupy her scattered mind.

“Lena. It’s way too early for this.”

“Thea, it’s five in the afternoon.”

“Call me again at eight.”

Lena laughs “How do you manage to party like we’re still in college?”

Thea sighs “By not having people call me at five. Bye.”

The line clicks dead, and Lena is left to look at the promos for the fight on her obnoxiously large TV.

Ron Perlman is doing the voiceover. It’s a pretty frivolous spending strategy, but she can’t deny that his voice draws her in.

“James ‘The Guardian’ Olsen vs Ben Lockwood.” It shows them both standing proud, and she hates to admit, both of them are pretty good looking.

It shows James knocking out opponents with a look of concentration, then one of a hundred photos of him posing with some kids or teens. “James has held the heavy middleweight belt against two competitors before Ben.”

Then Ben is shown throwing someone to the ground and pummeling them until the ref pulls him off.

They flash some of James’ speeches about loving your fellow man, the usual wholesome spiel that she’s happy to know is genuine.

Then come the rants. Ben is shirtless for some reason.

“They come here and try to take our jobs. These… people,” The word is said with layered disgust “Need to come here legally if they want the opportunities that America offers.”

A long walkout shot shows on screen with Ben draped in an American flag.

Then it’s James after a fight, sweating and looking only slightly scuffed.

Barney has a mic in his face “James, Ben Lockwood has repeatedly been adamant that he respects you as a fighter, but has absolutely no respect for your opinion on illegal immigrants.”

A flicker of anger crosses his eyes that only her, and some of the more obsessive fans, might notice “May the best man win.” James winks at the camera.

Two years ago, that would have done something for her. Now she just wants to see him beat Ben into the ground.

Ron Perlman’s voice sounds off again over two silhouettes, like someone that’s watching this doesn’t know who’s next.

Despite knowing, she’s curious about how the presentation looks now that she’s really released it.

“Roy Harper vs Slade ‘Deathstroke’ Wilson.”

Roy is definitely the better looking of the two, but Slade has the look of murder in his eyes.

“Roy Harper is fast on his feet and accurate with every punch, earning him the Bantam weight belt.”

It shows Roy dancing around opponents and landing kicks on every opening that’s given.

“Roy has been trained by Oliver Queen to have his own ‘Archer’ like shots, hitting with crippling accuracy at every chance given. He’s a force to be reckoned with.”

A few flashy knockouts are shown, then a presser interview with Roy.

“How do you feel about fighting Slade?” Barney asks with focused eyes.

“Honestly?” He looks up with a smile “I want this as my proving moment. If I can beat Slade, then this becomes a real belt. He’s a tough opponent, but with Oliver’s expertise, I can beat him.”

Ron Perlman’s voice is back “Roy seems hopeful, but Slade is not known for giving hope.”

Merciless kicks and punches are shown knocking out opponent after opponent, there’s a slow motion of him with a bloodied face choking a man unconscious with nothing but grim determination on his face.

“Slade Wilson only has two losses in his career, and both are technical. This man has never tapped, and says he’d rather be killed than change that. He certainly seems like a man of his word.”

Slade walks up to the camera and spits blood onto the ground “I will always respect another fighters right to tap, but I will never respect _them_ again.”

“Jesus Christ.” Lena shoves chips in her mouth, feeling more excited for watching Thea’s boy toy getting murdered than the DEO’s version of a political debate.

Then _that_ woman shows up on screen, she feels bad for forgetting her name “Kara Danvers. She’s a newcomer to the sport who’s already making waves. She’s challenged Siobhan Smythe in what people have called ‘the most weirdly polite call out’ in DEO history.”

Kara is in the post fight interview, checking behind her every few seconds to make sure her opponent is okay “I want to fight Siobhan Smythe, she’s next in line in rankings, and she deserves the chance to stop me. I won’t jump the line.” She points to the stands, and Lena is _very_ sad she was out of the country for this part “Lex, I know you can make this happen.”

It shows Kara dodging as many hits as she takes, never reacting to either.

Barry Allen, the reigning lightweight champion, is shown sparring with her, then turning to the camera “It’s ridiculous, she’s made of steel.”

“No one has been able to make her tap, or knock her out… She may actually be made of steel.”

That Lex almost passed on showing this promo is beyond her, the girl is hot _and_ charming.

Kara is leaping forward and knocking a woman out with a brutal punch. They show her on a greenscreen after, hands on her hips as colours of blue and red flash past.

Seriously? They bothered with the greenscreen and he wasn’t going to use the footage?

“Then, there’s Siobhan Smythe.”

Siobhan has that cocky grin she’s known for.

“Siobhan has deemed herself _the unstoppable bitch_.”

She kicks someone into the cage and sends an avalanche of punches into their shrinking figure.

“She seems to be living up to the title.”

Siobhan does an almost flawless head kick, knocking her opponent unconscious, mouthguard falling out as she hits the ground.

Siobhan laughs when asked about fighting Kara “What a joke. I’m only next in line in rankings because of my time off.”

It’s an interesting way to frame being investigated for performance enhancing drugs.

“Tonight, at ten. _DEO 103_.”

The promo ends and starts to play some B clips of all the main fighters beating heavy bags. And as much as she’d like to watch James and Kara be hot and sweaty, she has people to bother.

She brushes the chips off of herself, feeling more like a fan than a stakeholder. 

Paranoia, and being good at her job, makes Lena call her crew.

Jess answers first, of course “Hi, Ms. Luthor.”

“Is the-“

“Yes. Everything is fully functional, the venue owners are very happy with the fire safety, and we’re at full capacity.”

“And what is our full capacity?” She asks, deciding to be petty.

“Nine thousand five hundred and eight.”

“Fantastic work Jess.”

Lena hangs up. Then calls Lex.

“My god you’re like clockwork.”

She smiles “Intricate and interesting?”

“Predictable.”

“I’d like for you to not be too _predictable_ and actually show up with your wife.” Lena gets up from the couch, berating Lex a good motivator.

He groans into the phone “Lena, you get our situation.”

 _Not really_ “Well, I know you’re ‘open’ but that doesn’t really fly with the heavy right wing fanbase.”

Lex sighs into the phone, and she can picture his face drawn into some petulant frown. “People love James, and he’s basically a socialist.”

“I wouldn’t call him a socialist, he’s centre left. And he’s better looking than you, and more likeable, and he’s buff.”

“I didn’t pick up the phone to be bullied.”

Lena clicks her tongue “You kind of did.”

“Yes. I will come with Eve, and we will make a good show of being a nuclear family.”

“Nuclear families have kids.”

“I loathe children.” His smile is audible “Okay, bye Lena, save some of your jabs for the fight tonight.”

The joke isn’t bad. She won’t give him the satisfaction though, so she hangs up. 

She gets up to make some food to tide her over when there’s a knock on her door.

“Lenaaaaa I think I’m over too often, the people at the front desk didn’t even blink.”

“Thea,” She opens the door “Are you drunk already?”

She falls into Lena’s room, throwing her clothes off like they’ve personally offended her “I wish.”

Lena returns to cooking, throwing something extra in for her hungover mess of a friend.

“I’m,” Thea collapses onto the couch “So ready to drink and see Roy.”

Lena tries her best not to laugh “You know who he’s fighting, right?”

“Ollie kicked his ass a bunch of times before Felicity got him to retire.”

“I heard different.” Lena stirs the noodles, throwing in some unnecessary extra salt to give herself something to do while waiting for Thea to inevitably-

“You heard what?”

Thea isn’t up, but her head is. “Slade trained him and beat him a lot before Oliver joined the DEO.”

“Well, that’s… that doesn’t count.”

“Uh huh.” She turns the burner off, finished the giant pot of mac and cheese “Eat my shitty food so that you don’t blackout tonight.”

Lena and Thea dig in, no cameras to catch just how gross they can get.

Thea smiles at Lena with cheese on her face “We both know I’m still gonna blackout.”

It’s concerning, but Lena can’t say her friend is anything but consistent.

..

A few drinks deep and Thea is her usual jovial self, while Lena is no longer scared of the inevitable symphony of cameras.

They walk out -well Thea stumbles- and Diggle is waiting, ready to go.

Lena makes sure that Thea gets in without too many potential tabloid cover shots, and Diggle smiles back at them.

“You two excited for the fight tonight?”

Thea lets out an embarrassing laugh “Dig I already know that you’re gonna be there. Who you cheering for?”

“Do I look like a Nazi?”

Thea snorts “Not like any that I’ve seen.”

“James is going to kick Ben’s ass. And I’ve got money on it.”

Diggle takes off, and Lena buckles herself in.

“I didn’t take you for a betting man Diggle.”

“I’m not, Ms. Luthor.”

Diggle has always been her favourite member of the Queen family “Confidence will get you everywhere.”

He winks in the mirror.

..

Thea’s car ride nap has her looking marginally presentable for the flash of camera’s that follow them in.

It’s busy, the kind of busy that her and Lex like. Security gives her and Thea a half assed pat down, and wave them through the metal detectors after they fail three times on Thea.

They make their way to the front row, an electricity in the air that rises with each passing minute.

“What did you smuggle in?” Lena asks without turning.

Thea turns red and takes a flask from her cleavage.

Lena flicks her head “The drinks are free when you’re with me.”

Thea takes a healthy swig “Where’s the fun in that?”

A security guard makes his way over, and Lena waves him off with embarrassment.

“Why do I keep you around?”

After taking another drink, Thea lets out a sloppy laugh “No one else comes to these things.”

Andrea appears, seemingly to prove Thea wrong.

“Andrea!” Lena pulls her into a hug “I’m so glad you could make it.”

Lex and Eve walk in, Lex’s hairpiece making more of an entrance than Eve’s frankly gorgeous dress.

“Lexy!” Thea is hoisting her flask in celebration of his arrival.

Lex and Eve sit next to them, Lex doing a horrible job at hiding his distaste for Lena’s choice in company.

“Thea,” He nearly snarls “As always, nice to see you here.”

She spills her drink on him in little drops “Oh yeah? Nice to see you and your _wife_ show up together.”

“And that’s enough of that.” Lena snatches the drink from Thea and downs it in a swift motion.

Andrea gives her a look.

The lights go down, and the real show begins.

Brown eyed girl starts playing and lights of silver start to dance around the stadium.

“The self-proclaimed ‘unstoppable bitch’ of the woman’s division, who has yet to lose, Siobhan Smythe!” Winn yells into the mic, his small stature more than made up for by his announcer voice.

Siobhan walks out with a long stride, her sickening confidence showing clear on the jumbotron.

Lena’s heart starts to pound in her chest, the familiar and welcome tingle in her fingers as her hard work comes together.

Siobhan takes the stage, dominating the octagon while she punches at the camera. Siobhan leans against the cage, eyeing the camera like it murdered her family.

“Siobhan Smythe is a force of nature. She’s next in line, and Kara Danvers is eager to bring the fight to her.”

This summons the underdog of the night.

An incredibly aggressive rap song begins blaring through the stadium, and even though she helped set it up, it’s wild to hear.

Kara comes in with a smile on her face, looking to the crowd surrounding her like she just walked in on a surprise party.

Her appearance is a stark contrast to the music. The rest of the audience seems to be just as enraptured.

And confused.

The clapping and cheers are stilted. Kara doesn’t have a care in the world though, she has a skip in her step as the song rhymes murder with herder.

“Kara Danvers is an up and comer, with one technical loss in her first fight, and then three knockout wins in a row since her rocky start.”

Kara cocks an eyebrow at the camera, and Lena suddenly understands why she’s bringing girls to the sport, she’s girly, and hot, and strong. And, last but not least, she’s a flirt with the camera.

Not just because of how much Siobhan needs to be knocked down a peg, Lena wants Kara to win, she’d be a good face for the woman’s division.

“Welcome to DEO fight night 103!”

The cameras swoop in on Winn, who jumps in time with the light hitting him. “Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we bring you Siobhan Smythe versus Kara Danvers, Roy Harper versus Slade Wilson, and James ‘THE GUARDIAN’ Olsen versus Ben Lockwood.” Winn smiles at the camera, relishing in the moment that he’s the man of the hour “Set your personal video recorders, and get ready to see Damage, Entertainment, and Opposition.”

“My god, we’re really stuck with that name.” Lena almost laughs at her own joke, then catches herself, realizing that this would be a particularly damaging soundbite.

The lights all focus on the octagon and Lena is pleased to see that it’s perfectly lit.

The referee walks between Kara and Siobhan “I want a clean fight. Touch gloves now if you’re going to touch gloves.”

Siobhan slams her hands over Kara’s and Kara’s sunny disposition stays.

Round One begins. 

Kara puts her hand out for a glove touch, and Siobhan feigns like she’s going to be commendable this time around.

_Don’t fall for it_

Kara does, and gets a firm punch in the head for her trust.

Andrea leans over “Why do they fight in an octagon with a fence? Also is this like boxing?”

She’s now reminded on why she doesn’t invite Andrea to these things anymore “In the simplest terms, it’s like wrestling and boxing mixed together. The fence is so they can wrestle against it and not fall out.”

Andrea makes a noise of consideration “That’s weird.”

Lena ignores the slight, and looks up again.

Sunshine has left Kara’s eyes, replaced by a deep fury. And true to what will surely be her new nickname, Kara looks like steel. Instead of rushing, she smiles at Siobhan and goads her in.

Siobhan does some distancing kicks that land with little effect as they dance around each other, Kara hopping around the octagon like it’s her personal bounce house.

Siobhan draws in a little too close, and three punches come out almost too quick to register. Siobhan head registers them though, reeling back in a daze.

She turns to Thea, who’s already asleep in her seat. Between fights she’ll get her a coffee and a firm slap to face, she at least needs to be awake to watch Roy get steamrolled.

Lena almost misses Kara kicking Siobhan in the head and following it up with a fluid uppercut. Siobhan is nothing short of rocked, no confident smirk as she runs from Kara’s flawless combinations.

‘The unstoppable bitch’, stops, and tries for a leg kick on Kara, who just flexes her leg and gets her smile back at Siobhan dropping to the floor. Kara mounts her and works punch after punch around her feeble guard.

Time isn’t on Kara’s side **5-4-3-2-1**

Kara, apparently a girl scout, immediately dismounts and goes to her corner with a confident grin gracing her face. In her corner, J’onn gives her some pointers, but seems generally pleased. Her sister is more tough “Kara you had her, what was that whole dance about?”

Kara just shrugs “Sorry Alex, I had to warm myself up.”

“What was the jump rope for then?”

Kara takes a sip of water “The cameras.”

Lena regrets missing that.

Round Two begins, Thea’s snoring drowned out by the roar of a now interested crowd. Kara might stop the unstoppable.

Kara doesn’t go for the glove touch this time, moving forward with a focused intensity and forcing Siobhan right in front of the fence. Siobhan kicks for her head, Kara ducks it and slickly answers with a chest kick that brings Siobhan firmly into the fence. Kara kicks again into Siobhan’s leg and then shoots into a bear hug that brings her to the ground.

Kara slips her way to Siobhan’s back and brings elbow after elbow into the bleeding and tired woman. Siobhan gives up her back and is Kara is able to snake her arms to Siobhan’s neck, locking her in a choke. With a firm crank that goes on so long that Lena actually feels sympathy, Siobhan taps, and Kara releases her from the death grip.

She pumps into the air at the shocked cheers that turn to a roar of excitement. Kara runs to J’onn and picks him up, his cheery smile says this isn’t out of the ordinary. Alex joins in the hug to let J’onn out of Kara’s grip and then lifts her sister with a concentrated effort.

Kara circles back to make sure that Siobhan is okay, and the loser spits her mouthguard out, ever the bitch in defeat.

They let Siobhan leave to get her neck checked, and Barney puts a mic to Kara.

“Kara, you ended Siobhan Smythe’s winning streak in two rounds, taking very little damage.”

Kara’s bright smile is almost blinding on the jumbotron, so Lena looks at her real figure instead, getting a healthy dose of rippling abs. “Well, she was a tough opponent to study. I knew what I needed to do was basically snipe for her weaknesses.”

“We don’t have much time, but what would you like to say to the fans?”

“Get ready to see a lot more of me.” Kara smiles and flexes for the camera, and is then escorted out of the octagon by J’onn and Alex.

“If you guys are like me, you just became a fan of Kara Danvers. You’ll see her a few weeks from now when she’s set to fight Imra Ardeen.”

They cut for commercials and Lena stands to grab a coffee for Thea.

Andrea frowns and stands too “My boyfriend is picking me up.”

Lena doesn’t even have it in her to be disappointed “See you when I see you then.”

Lex cocks his head, his way of asking if he can go with her, she waves him on, and he follows.

“Thank you for coming with Eve.”

Lex exhales loudly “What are you, marketing?”

“Speaking of…”

“Yes Lena.” He has to stop and shake a celebrity’s hand, go through the motions of pretending he saw their latest movie “I talked to marketing and they like the female empowerment thing. Depending on how Kara’s next fight goes, she might be the focus.”

Lena stops him “What if she fizzles out? She’s never had to fight five rounds as a main event, and once she even gets to that point we could have too much committed.”

Lex lets her through the door into where they can find some concessions. “We’ll have the two of you record enough B roll that it’ll look like we were covering all of the girls-“ She gives him a look “All the _women_ , equally.” 

“Okay, not bad.” She stops “Where _the fuck_ is coffee _?_ And, who am I going with?”

“We’ll have to go to the staff room if you want coffee, because, you know, it’s eleven at night.”

“It’s for Thea -also- who am I going with?”

“Barney.”

Lena barges into the staff room, and sees what she was hoping for. She feels for warmth, is somewhat satisfied, and fills a mug with coffee. “He’s kind of weird.”

Lex leans against the counter and scratches under his hairpiece. “He’s autistic, so be nicer.”

Lena didn’t know that, so she turns away from her guilt “Okay. I’m the ass this time, congrats.”

Lex starts a new pot of coffee, being nice in his own small way “And, something else.”

Using her head to open the door, Lena groans.

“You have to talk to Kara about it after the event is over.”

“Why is she still here?”

A security guard waves them through the door as the lights go every which way in an attempt to keep up the fight night’s energy, while also making sure the older people don’t fall down the stairs.

Lex smiles at an old lady stumbling and being caught by who she assumes is her husband “Except the time she lost, she always stays to watch the other matches.”

It’s odd “Can you text me that? It’d be good for the special, humanizes her.”

He pulls out his phone and nods.

Lena drops into her seat as loudly and ungracefully as possible “THEA!”

She barely rouses.

Lena holds the mug of coffee up to her nose “Thea Queen, wake up so you can watch your boyfriend get beat up.”

“ _he’s not my boyfren.”_

“Wake up so you can watch your ‘monogamous sex partner’ get beat up.”

This seems to do something, making Thea’s eyes open in small slits. “ _isthat coffee?”_

“It is the rare instance where I will encourage you to drink.”

Thea holds her hands out like a child begging for a toy, taking hesitant sips that turn to gulps. “Lena, you’re the best Luthor in the world.”

Eve laughs.

Lena fights one of her own “Thank you, Thea. We seriously need to get you drinking more water before we go out.”

“Can we talk about this tomorrow?”

Lena’s attention is drawn by the lights dimming down, and Thea looks almost lucid in anticipation.

Winn is back on the stage, soaking up the spotlights like he’s the main event “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!”

She wonders how he’s going to be more dramatic for the main event.

“Your co-main event. Roy Harperrrrr versus Slade ‘Deathstroke’ Wilssssson!”

A New Zealand tribal song starts to play as Slade enters, Slade recorded with a Maori tribe, and it’s just as bone chilling as the last time she heard it.

The screens show a man with one singular focus, and that focus is murder.

“Slade Wilson. A man known for finishing his fights with nothing left behind. Named ‘Deathstroke’ for his ferocious and jaw breaking punches, this is a man who has few equals.”

Slade enters the octagon and lies against the fence like a predator awaiting the chance to strike.

The prey enters.

“Roy Harper! The wonder boy himself is taking Slade’s place in competition for the interim bantamweight belt, he submitted Adrian Chase in the third round. This is his chance to prove that the belt should stay.”

Slade nods as Roy enters.

“This is going to be one for the ages. Get ready for a battle.” 

Lena sees Thea’s eyes focused on her ‘not boyfriend’, and feels like maybe letting her sleep through this would have been a better idea.

A new ref is between the fighters. “Boys, I want a clean fight.”

They nod.

“Touch gloves if you’re going to touch gloves.”

Slade offers his hands willingly, and Roy takes the offer.

She hopes he isn’t mistaking Slade’s professionalism for weakness.

Round One begins.

Slade goes for another cordial glove touch, and moments later, onslaught begins.

There’s an intense forward pressure in every movement of Slade as he sends a mix of effective and ineffective punches Roy’s way.

It ends with Roy intact, but obviously worse for wear.

Thea looks almost sober as the next round begins.

Roy starts off great, kick after kick connecting with Slade’s body, a streak of jabs that knock some wind out of Slade’s sails. Roy lands another solid kick on Slade, who just nods in approval before raising his own foot and crashing it down on top of Roy’s head.

Roy falls to the ground, clearly unconscious. Slade watches him go down, slowly approaching before the ref protects Roy from more.

“And that is Slade Wilson in round two with an axe kick knockout!”

Oliver is helping Roy walk to his corner where some doctors look him over.

Thea’s laugh is harsh “At least his face is okay.”

Slade wipes some blood from his own face as Barney approaches, taking the mic before a question can be asked. “Roy is a good fighter, but that belt was mine to win.”

Lex gets up on stage and puts the belt in question on a non plussed Slade. Lex can’t hide his smile as Slade refuses to give up the mic “Whoever is next in line better be prepared. I’m going to go call my kids, ask me questions later.”

Slade hands the mic back to Barney, pats his shoulder, and walks out of the octagon with security scrambling to catch up.

“Lex has to fine him for that, right?”

Lena turns, expecting Thea, but it’s Eve leaning over.

“Yeah, he probably won’t be happy about it. Him skipping the post fight interview goes against contract.”

Eve laughs “Classic Slade though.”

She can’t deny that.

A quick text to and from Thea confirms her suspicions, she’s gone home with Roy. Their shared house, that they live in together, where they only sleep with and date each other. But, you know, _not_ her boyfriend.

Lex collapses into Thea’s chair. “Slade is so great for views. I hate that I have to fine him.”

Lena and Eve raise eyebrows at each other.

She has to concede “Slade manages to skirt the rules just enough that he’s worth it.”

“That’s my sister.”

With no coffee to get and no party child to take care of, Lena waits impatiently for the main event to start. 

“AND NOW! The fight of the ages.”

The lights strobe in a very non epilepsy friendly way and find their way to Winn, only brightening his face this time. She taps her feet, excited for the fight as much as she is for seeing if this all worked.

An American flag with a saluting marine take up the jumbotron as Ben Lockwood walks out to a mix of cheers and jeers, the national anthem booming loudly over it all.

Ben walks like it’s nothing though, taking some clear pride in the hatred. He has an American flag wrapped around him like a cape, as if he’s visiting a different country and has to represent his home.

“Ben Lockwood has shown himself to be a more than worthy opponent to James Olsen. A patriot who has no shame in showing it, Ben is always ready to put on a show.”

Ben gets into the octagon and makes a show of feeling the cage’s perimeter, pointing at a few of the people booing with a smile.

“The undisputed champion of light heavyweight, JAMES ‘THE GUARDIAN’ OLSEN.”

Fortunate Son starts to play, she’s glad to see that the recreation of the Calvintown flag that displays for a few moments was done tastefully.

“James Olsen is one of the most celebrated fighters in DEO history, a man who truly needs no introduction.”

Then the spotlight rests on James as he walks with determination. The cheers are almost deafening, in no small part because Lex is yelling right in her ear.

“Lex! Shut up.”

He turns to her with a smile, sees she’s being serious, and stands before continuing his yelling.

James enters the octagon and smiles at the camera before stomping his foot in a superstitious form of prep. He nods to his corner and waits for the fight to start.

James touches gloves with a scowl, and gets his game face on.

The ref gives the same spiel, and the fight begins.

Ben comes out with a flying kick that rocks James back into the cage, but he shakes it off with a smile.

They grapple with each other, both of them keeping the other in place as they land sloppy punches into the others back. James lands a good stomp on Ben’s foot, and they disengage.

A trade of punches starts next, each dodged punch being answered with a hard connecting one. Blood is dripping down onto the floor and spraying off of the gloves.

Lex is bouncing up and down in his seat “James just really hates him.”

It seems Ben is good competition.

The first round ends in what will probably be a draw.

Blood colours the octagon, making the DEO logo look even more fitting than usual.

The next time they touch gloves, there’s some begrudging respect on James’ face. This soon changes to the face of someone going through a war, as they trade punches again. Both of them weaving in and out of the other fighter’s range.

James lands a sickening leg kick that sends Ben into a stumble, with fifteen seconds left, James has to end it soon.

Ben limps away, keeping distance as the clock runs down.

The second-round ends, and Ben stumbles to his bench. A doctor approaches Ben and asks him if he can continue, Ben nods.

In the third round, Ben is more strategic, guarding his wrecked leg and throwing wild combinations at James. Most of the shots land, and Lena wonders if this should have been his strategy all along.

Then James lands another kick on the damaged leg, and Ben crumples. James meets him on the ground and they scramble to stay on top, Ben getting a few shocked noises from the audience when he has James’ arm locked with his legs. It looks like it’s going to be the end for James when the bell sounds.

Ben essentially drags his leg to his corner, the doctor approaches him again, and he says that he’s just being theatrical for the cameras. The doctor doesn’t really buy it, but the damage isn’t bad enough for a stop to the fight yet.

Lex turns to her with a smile “This is going to make such an awesome highlight reel.”

Eve laughs, then hides her enjoyment, because for some reason her role in the relationship is playing the bitch.

The fourth round starts with a blood spraying uppercut from Ben that ripples through James’ face. James goes on defence as Ben presses his advantage, then another good leg kick cracks through the sound system.

“Ohhh.” The crowd goes, and Lena realizes she’s part of the chorus. 

The fight stops immediately, a doctor coming out to stop it and save Ben’s leg.

Lena finds herself standing in shock, even with her hatred of Ben, this man took a thrashing to his leg.

“Doctors have called a stop to this fight in the fourth round, three minutes in.” Winn announces to a stunned audience.

Ben is laying down where he was dropped, and James is talking to him with a genuine smile gracing his face.

Barney approaches James as they set up a stretcher for Ben. “After a lot of hype, that was quite the explosive fight. Probably not quite the finish that fans were hoping for, but an exciting slug match for the time we had.”

“Everyone knows my opinion on Ben’s politics, but that man is one hell of a fighter, and I have to respect that. Once he’s up and at em again, I’d love to face him in a rematch.”

Ben mouths ‘same’, making James keel over with laughter.

..

The stadium empties quickly, a mess of popcorn and half eaten hotdogs for some underpaid cleaners to take care of.

“Kara is in the J section.” Lex yells as Lena makes sure all of the lights are set to turn off correctly.

“You’re not coming?”

Lex continues on, taking the hairpiece off in front of several people. He looks good bald, everyone knows he’s bald, why does he even bother? “I have things to do.”

Eve has already left in her own car, so she assumes that ‘things’ means people.

Lena bids everyone a good night and promises to lock up and shut things down, they all know it’s just a button press to start the closing, but traffic is traffic.

She leaves the room and heads back into the stadium, looking for Kara.

There’s _the_ blonde woman she’s looking for, legs resting on the chair in front of her and a content look on her face.

Lena stops in front of her and kicks the chair to get her attention. “Earth to Kara.”

Kara looks up at her with a lazy smile “Kara’s here Ms. Luthor.”

“How do you not get swarmed by fans sitting in the stands like this?” 

“If I’m still sweaty, people tend to leave me alone.”

She bites down a comment on how a lot of fans are probably too busy picking themselves off the floor seeing her to bother her. “Didn’t work that well on me.”

Kara stands and stretches, Lena keeps eye contact with effort. “I assume you’re who Lex has me waiting for. Or are you just a fan who has to hide her true allegiance?”

Lena leans forward, glad that the stadium is empty for how compromised her position looks “We are actually allowed to be friends. Lex and James get lunch sometimes, and Lex hated Clark Kent.”

A flicker of something resembling recognition crosses Kara’s eyes “Well,” Kara puts out a hand “I hope we can be friends then, Ms. Luthor.”

She takes the hand that’s offered, getting a strong handshake and a little bit of warmth in her cheeks as a reward. “Please, if you want to be friends, call me Lena.”

“Of course.” Kara gets up using Lena’s hand “Ms. Lena.”

It must be a younger sibling thing that Kara is just as skilled at being annoying. “Do you have time to talk?”

Kara shrugs “For you? All the time in the world.” 

She leads Kara down the stairs, wanting a chance to not acknowledge just how much better looking that Kara is up close. “I want to make a short promo on female fighters. And Lex wants you to star.”

Kara puts a hand to her heart “You’re not even going to lie and say that _you_ want me to star?”

“Well, the first time I saw you was yesterday, so-“

“Hold on,” Kara stops in her tracks “That was you hiding in the stands yesterday?”

As it turns out, Lena is terrible at hiding. “How in the hell?”

Kara continues walking with some joy in her step “You must know what it’s like to have fans that border on stalkers, and stalkers that border on being fans. It gets easy to spot.”

She is all too familiar, but she has to hide the blush of embarrassment.

“Lena, you’re much too striking,” The compliment almost starts a different blush “And _much_ too pale, to hide in the dark.”

Lena huffs “I can convince him to focus on someone else.”

“Like you’d want to. Everyone knows that the only other candidate is Sam Arias, and she’s not an up and comer, she’s just like…”

“A horse racing donkeys?”

Kara laughs with her whole body, and Lena can’t help but admire the work that her abs go through “Not the expression I would use, but sure.”

“After your fight with Imra, we’ll visit you at your home, then we can meet you for a fluff piece at your gym after the Mercy Graves fight.”

“You know about my gym?”

Lena rolls her eyes “Kara, I’m the co-owner of this organization.”

“Am I not allowed to be flattered?”

This is verging close to flirting, but with each toss of sunshine hair, and each look of blue eyes, Lena can’t find it in herself to stop. “Not if I say you can’t be.”

“Aye, aye, boss.”

Lena shoves at Kara, who stands stiff. “I get it, you’re much stronger than me, let me push you, you shit.”

“Don’t be so mean to your employees or I’ll tell my reporter cousin that you’re a bully.” Something like guilt marks Kara’s face and she suddenly points to the parking lot. “Sorry Lena, I have to go.”

“Wait.” Lena calls out, missing the banter already “How do I contact you about the house visit?”

She smiles while walking backward “Lex has my number, use it.”

..

Thea is waiting outside her condo with an umbrella that looks more expensive than some people’s clothes “Where have you been?”

She thinks to be coy “Talking to the female star of the night.”

“Narcissist.”

She gestures for Thea to come inside and avoid the three droplets of rain that are coming down in a slow cycle “I was talking about Kara Danvers. You slept through her fight, but Lex is hopeful that she’ll become the face of the female side of the sport.”

“I strategically napped.” Thea quips as she hands her umbrella off to the condo manager.

“Thea that’s the manager.”

“Shit,” She stops and makes to take it back “My bad.”

Jules takes it well “We’ve been through this a few times Ms. Queen, don’t fret.”

..

Once they’re both collapsed on Lena’s couch at one in the morning, Lena is able to laugh.

Thea kicks her foot “This Kara, she hot?”

Lena groans and falls back fully “Yes. But I don’t want to talk about that, how’s Roy?”

“His ego is about as bruised as his face.”

..

She wakes in her bed with loud snoring coming from the living room, there’s a wet spot on her panties. Lena suddenly remembers her dream.

Kara carrying her into the octagon, fucking her blind, making Lena tap out every time she wants her to stop.

Nothing a cold shower can’t fix.

..

A few weeks of no Kara is enough to get it out of her system, the other events she goes to have equally beautiful women with considerable talent.

..

Then, Kara’s fight against Imra is upon her. She’s on the main card, but the third again. A _completely insignificant_ part of her hopes that Kara might be there to berate Lex again, but she has no such luck.

The fight is hyped up without a huge amount of fanfare as a result of most of their fanbase drawing fighters still recovering.

When Kara comes out, it’s with the same smile she had for when she was part of a huge fight night.

..

Round One.

Her and Imra touch gloves, and Imra’s defence stops her from being hit by Kara’s combinations.

Imra responds with a well-timed head kick followed by a good knock to Kara’s cheek. The first round undeniably goes to Imra, and Lena worries that she’ll have to double her efforts with the other female fighters for the promo package.

The second round is equally as uneventful, and Kara actually draws some boos her way. She blocks the kicks and punches with a smile on her face.

In the third round, Imra seems to be getting tired. Imra throws another of her head kicks, and Kara sidesteps it while hooking a foot around Imra’s other ankle, sending her to the ground. Kara pounces on top of her and swings tactically precise fists into the side of Imra’s head. It keeps going and going, Imra’s weak defence crumbling until-

The ref comes in and calls a stop.

Kara helps Imra up with a smile, then climbs the cage to a roaring crowd, any of the people who disapproved of her tactics earlier loving her turnaround.

Somehow, Kara’s eyes meet Lena’s. Kara just smiles at her like she’s another fan, which is all she should be.

After the main event, and against any rational part of her body, Lena makes her way to where she knows that Kara will be getting ready to go home.

Lena knocks on the door and hears something fall.

“Shoot.”

Laughs definitely carrying through the door, Lena yells through “You don’t even swear?”

“My parents did an alright job.”

“I can tell, you look fantastic.”

Kara opens the door, her phone on the ground. “If my phone is broken does the DEO have to pay for it? Since, you know, it’s your fault.”

“You’re getting a lot of money for being the star of our promo.”

Kara leaves the door open, and Lena follows her back in the changing room. Kara’s hair a dark blonde, the shower she’s just taken accentuating a few other features.

“Can we be honest?” Kara puts her hands to her hips in her signature pose “If I start to lose fights before this promo thing airs, you’re going to make it look like a view on all of the female talent.”

Lena pouts, annoyed and impressed that she caught on so early. “Regardless,” She looks away from that damned smile “You’re going to be well compensated for your time.”

“Well time with you seems like compensation enough… so far.” She finishes teasing Lena by sticking her tongue out.

Kara’s lips are still a little wet from the shower, her abs still on display from the workout, the thought of a bruise forming on her cheek. Lena moves forward like a moth drawn to light, Kara’s presence is such a bright one.

Kara moves to meet her, eyes darting to Lena’s inviting display of cleavage. Her calloused hands raise, going for Lena’s neck.

Lena tilts her neck to leave it open, wanting Kara’s touch, forget the media.

Kara stops suddenly. “Wow. I can’t believe I almost…” Kara grabs her bag “I have to go.”

She slumps down onto the bench as Kara moves past her. It’s definitely the smart decision for the both of them, but the warmth between her legs doesn’t care about what’s smart.

..

Lena looks at herself in the reflection of the partition, hoping to god her driver can’t see her having a mini freak out at the prospect of seeing Kara again so soon.

Her driver lowers the partition to talk and _almost_ successfully plays off his shock of having Lena so close with her teeth bared.

“Ms. Luthor, we’re here.”

He’s stopped them outside of a ridiculously modest home.

“You’re sure?”

“Have I ever let you down?”

“No Frank. Thank you.”

He tips his hat as she gets out.

Even seeing the camera crew through the window, she has some sixth sense telling her that this can’t be the right place.

She knocks regardless, and Kara opens the door with a wide smile.

“Lena! What a gigantic surprise, I thought the cameras were here for a cooking show.”

“No such luck.” Lena quips back as she enters the jarringly modest house. She looks around at all of the framed photos, and a startling idea starts to form.

“Why is your house such a _dump_ , you may be asking?”

“Wouldn’t have been my first choice of words, but… it’s certainly modest.”

Kara shrugs and aims to lead her into the next room. A makeup artist flags down the director, who frowns.

“What?” Mxy snaps.

The makeup team retreats a little “Kara has some pretty noticeable bruising below her eye. 

Kara waves them off “I want it to be at least somewhat honest, I already have to pretend these cameras happen to be rolling inside my house, let me have this bit of truth.”

The makeup artist looks to Lena, and she can’t find it in herself to argue. “Let her go.”

Kara hops out of the chair like a jail, and continues “This is the house my birth parent raised me in. Some people say it’s haunted because of the carbon monoxide deaths, but I think-“

Lena raises stunned hands to the cameras “Wait, what?”

“It’s been twelve years, I went to therapy, I’m good.”

Lena just stares at her in shock, all the sentences coming to mind too callous or too pitying.

“Should I rephrase and just say my birth parents passed away here?”

She nods numbly, words escaping her.

“Well Lena,” Kara starts again, responding to Lena’s question like the last minute didn’t happen “This is where my birth parents lived and passed away. And while I will always consider the Danvers my real family as well, the Zor El’s treated me fantastically for as long as they could, and I couldn’t let the place go to someone else.” She winks at Lena, who hates the effect it has even with cameras rolling “Not with all this DEO money at least.”

As Kara continues the tour, it feels like the cameras are melting into the background.

She stops in front of a crawlspace with a rueful smile “I used to hide here with Krypto when the thunderstorms got too bad for both of us to handle. But with the smartest Luthor, how could I ever be in danger?” Kara gets Lena to huddle into the crawlspace with her, the close proximity sending jolts of attraction up her spine.

“This is…” Thinking of something that’s not flirty in front of the cameras is harder than any press conference. “This is really sweet of you Kara, thank you for sharing this with me.”

Kara leans into her “With a face like that, how could I say no?”

It seems Kara has no such issues with flirting before an audience. “Kara.” She whispers into her ear as they get up. “Can you not say stuff like that in front of the camera?”

Kara smirks “Oh so now that there’s an audience, it’s bad to flirt.”

Leaning in so that it’s impossible for anyone else to hear, Lena whispers “I never wanted you to stop last time.”

Kara is locked in place by Lena’s words for a good minute “Luthor, you are such a jerk.”

Mxy gives them an exasperated look, and Kara resumes the tour.

“You may be asking yourself ‘Zor El’ that’s an odd name.”

“I mean not really-“

“She doesn’t look Middle Eastern? Oh no is it offensive to assume a white person isn’t Middle Eastern?”

Lena just stands in amused annoyance, letting Kara do her show.

“Well, the answer is a little disappointing.” Kara opens the door to a room with dream catchers everywhere “My parents were hippies.”

The room looks like it was tailor made for someone on drugs. A rug is pinned to wallpaper that’s some chaotic mix of floral and cheetah print, and there’s a lava lamp of all things.

“That explains how casual you can be.”

Kara makes a ‘somewhat’ gesture with her hand “I still got fantastic grades.” She points to the honour roll plaque on the wall “I just dressed weird. And my parents would hire a babysitter on the occasions when they would drop acid.”

The last part is said so casually Lena almost forgets to react “You seem to be burying the lead here.”

She sits on the bed and motions for Lena to do the same. “Yes, my birth parents did psychedelics at home.” The way she words it sounds like there’s a follow up, Kara gets up from the bed and goes on her knees to fish something out, her ass way too inviting. “There it is.”

“Huh?” Lena muses, not remembering what she’s supposed to be doing.

Kara emerges with a smile and a damaged shoe box “They still took me to boxing lessons all the time.” Inside the shoe box is a collection of ribbons, first and second place seem the most common.

Lena smiles, and she knows this is going to make for a great video.

The kitchen is the only clearly updated feature besides the massive TV.

Lena raises an eyebrow, the question obvious.

“Well, I’m an athlete.”

“The TV?”

“I’m human.” Kara laughs, and Lena finds herself following along “I don’t sleep in my old bedroom either, that would freak out the people I-“ She stops herself. “Anyway,” she continues with a pitch to her voice “You haven’t asked how everything is still so untouched.”

“I figured you just didn’t have a cleaner.”

“Jerk.” Kara shoves her, then seems to remember the camera crew around at the same time as Lena “The place was due to be condemned, asbestos everywhere in the ceilings, and went up for auction, the Danvers bought it for a stupidly low price, and held onto it for me.”

“That’s very nice of them.” She can’t imagine Lillian doing that for her.

Kara taps her fingers on the kitchen island “Then, I put maybe a bit too much money into the place and,” She makes a noise and puts an arm out “You’ve got this.”

“It’s very cute.” Lena admits, only because Kara makes it so.

Kara frowns “I guess cute will have to do.”

..

Mxy is looking over the footage, trying to see if they’ll have to reshoot anything for continuity or better angles. “You two have great camera chemistry.”

Lena stares daggers at Kara, who looks up for a fleeting second, only to duck her blushing face.

He motions for the camera crew to pack up “That’s perfect for today. Might have to talk Lex into making this a full docuseries, there’s a lot of good stuff here.”

Kara smiles shyly “Only if you keep the interviewer.”

“Well Barney is coming along for the gym segment.” Mxy responds quickly, not getting the joke.

Camera crew gone, Kara just stands in the living room with Lena, the air in the room is weird, like they’ve gone on a date and don’t know whether to hug or kiss goodbye.

Lena knows Kara is too worried about her up and comer status for either of those things. “I’d better-“

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?”

Always full of surprises “I’d love to.” Her own response surprises her just as much.

Kara moves to the kitchen with stiff posture “Any allergies I should be aware of?”

“Nope.” Lena sits on the counter, and her skirt rides up a bit, letting her legs hang in an eye-catching way.

Kara’s eyes go wide, then she ducks her head in the fridge “Stop that.” She grumbles into the fridge.

“I’m not doing anything.” Lena lies.

Kara emerges from the fridge with meat squares and some prepped veggies, she places them on a large plate and opens a few drawers before sighing. “You’re in the way of the shish kebab sticks.”

Lena smirks “You can work around me.”

Kara puts strong hands on Lena’s thighs and tries to force her to move. Lena grips the counter like her life depends on it, and Kara only manages to force her legs apart.

Kara stumbles back “Are you trying to kill me?”

Lena finally scoots down the counter, slightly satisfied “I’d rather do something else to you.”

Kara takes the sticks in a jerky movement and stomps outside.

The barbeque is ancient and the deck is completely revamped. “Kara, what was the justification here?”

“Not wanting people to fall through it was the main one.” She starts the barbeque and stabs the meat and vegetables onto the sticks before throwing everything on “Second one was that I spend a lot of time back here because no one can see back here, and” She points to the forest that lies past her fence “That’s amazing to screw around in, so I need strong lights to keep from getting lost.”

Lena imagines Kara walking around, getting excited over every little thing in there. “Oh, to be twenty-five again.”

“You’re thirty, I’m going to take you on one of my hikes and you’ll see just how young you are.”

Lena gets close enough to Kara that it’s suggestive “Are you offering to take me on a hiking date?”

“I’m,” Kara flips the shish kebabs like they’re one of her opponents “Offering to take you,” She stabs at the sticks again, sexual frustration clear. “As a _friend_ , and only if you wear something appropriate.”

“Deal.” Lena whispers in her ear, before stepping back to a more reasonable distance.

The food is amazing, and Kara insists they eat outside.

“I get it now.”

Kara unhinges her jaw to take three pieces at once, then covers her mouth as Lena laughs at the sight “What do you get?”

She looks at Kara, who is a close second to the view of the setting sun over the canopy of trees “Why you would spend so much time out here. It’s beautiful, and serene.”

Kara smiles at her in that bright way “Well, not always serene. When it’s not a day off like today, I do some boxing.” Lena hadn’t even noticed the punching bag. “Not the prettiest sight.”

Lena bites her lip and Kara sticks out her tongue.

She’s okay with just being friends with Kara, teasing her and enjoying her company is good enough.

Honestly.

..

The Mercy Graves fight is coming up, and Lena wants to be a bit of a head turner. Who’s to say what for?

She puts a choker on, knowing that the fabric will draw some attention to her neck, and gets a dress with a slit for her legs to be as close to uncovered as she can get away with, and a nice amount of cleavage with a hanging necklace to catch _someone’s_ eye.

She gives herself one last look over, and then carefully sits herself on the couch. 

Thea comes in, looking relatively sober. “Holy.” She pauses, waiting for her mouth to catch up to her brain “Why do you look so good?”

“Just felt like it.”

“You just _felt_ like dressing like a model?”

“I am a model, so I technically always dress like a model.”

Thea vaults the back of the couch and lands beside her “Don’t be so obtuse.”

“I don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“You turned down full rides to every school worth a damn, shut the hell up.”

As if summoned, Roy comes in “Are you guys going to flirt the whole time? My ego’s been bashed enough on TV for one lifetime.”

“Shush Roy.” Lena scolds with a smile, her version of ‘hello’ “Watch the master work.”

Roy sits opposite them on the stupidly expensive armchair. “You’re way too good at getting girls to try it with girls.”

Lena takes a sip of her martini, and looks over the glass “I help women, and men, discover their sexuality. No harm in that.”

Roy cracks his beer open “There is when I’m da- seeing them.”

“Nice recovery wonder boy.”

He flips her off as she stands to call her own driver.

..

The car ride over is only bearable with Frank’s small talk drowning out the disgusting display of love next to her.

“Who’s your bet on, Frank?”

He looks to the side of her seat and almost hides a smile “I’m not a betting man, but I’m cheering for Barry in the main event.”

“With a face like that, who isn’t?” She hesitates before asking what she really wants to “And for the co main event?”

“Danvers without a doubt. She’s a weirdo, but she’s a good sport, and an even better fighter.”

She can’t help the smile that forms. “I actually bet on her.”

“Didn’t take you for the type Ms. Luthor.”

“Well, I have a good feeling about her.”

..

“Hank Henshaw versus Manchester Black!”

The heavyweights move in, touch gloves, and start the slug match.

She feels like she’ll be concussed just watching this.

Manchester throws in a nice body kick, then they resume caving the other’s head in.

Roy is leaning forward in his seat and Lex is hysterically laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Lena can’t turn away, no matter how much the rational part of her brain tells her to.

Lex leans in so she can hear him better “I tried to stop these two from fighting. Manchester and Hank have fought outside of the ring more times than people spar with friends.”

“Why didn’t you stop it?”

“As much as we like to pretend that we’re the be all end all, rankings decide fights, they both want the belt, one of them has to lose.”

The first round ends with a mess of red and bruising colouring both fighter’s faces.

“ _I_ want a break after that, these guys are insane.” Roy stands and Thea stays shellshocked.

He lifts her up, and they go somewhere else.

Lex sits next to her, and at Lena’s look of indignation, he laughs “They’re not coming back.”

“That’s… probably true.”

The second round begins before she has a chance to form anything better to answer.

There’s a moment where she thinks there’s going to be some sort of strategy, then they resume where they left off, barely dodging each other.

Two minutes in, and something is changing, Hank’s speed is starting to slack.

Hank drops to the ground, blood trailing down with him.

Manchester looks down at him with a devilish smile.

“And that is Manchester Black by knockout, two minutes into the second round.”

Lex and Lena stand, both needing a breather after watching the level of toxic masculinity that makes you get brain damage out of spite.

“Great for promos the next time Manchester fights.”

Lena agrees with a nod, still seeing the way both of their faces were drooping.

He grabs them both a large glass of vodka tonic.

Sipping at it as they go back to their spot helps to steady her shaking hands.

“Excited to see Kara fight?” Lex takes a large gulp, clearly not knowing the possible connotations of what he’s saying.

“Yes. She’s really nice, and she’s fun to watch.”

Lex sits next to her, smiling at the still empty seats. “We might as well just come together at this rate, neither of our guests seem to stay.” He laughs at Eve’s purse still being in her seat “You two seemed to really hit it off in the unfinished stuff that Mxy was showing me.”

“Well, you know, she’s easy to get along with.”

“Mxy is a little obsessed with her, so maybe tone down how much the two of you get along.”

“Fuck that weirdo, I’ll double my efforts to be her friend.”

Lex is about to hit her back with something when the lights go down.

“This is your CO-MAIN EVENT of the evening!”

Lights brighten on a familiar blonde who emerges with a smile, the rap song about being paranoid that your friends are going to kill you doesn’t fit at all the image of a happy go lucky girl. “KARA DANVERS. Coming hot off of her win streak, can she keep her momentum against Mercy Graves, or is she doomed to stall like she stalled Siobhan Smythe?”

Kara doesn’t seem bothered by the ominous words, her electric smile staying on her face as she makes her way to the octagon, hopping in a wide circle around the octagon with her hands outstretched. Then, she almost stumbles as her and Lena make eye contact.

Making Kara lose is definitely not part of her game plan, but she can’t deny she likes the way that she stares at Lena with a face that’s bordering on drooling. She catches Kara’s eyes going to her neck, _check._ Then her chest, _check_. And then her legs, _and that’s all the bases covered_.

Lena sinks back into her seat, satisfied.

There isn’t long to savour the moment, as the lights go down again.

“The woman in the way. The mountain that almost no one has surpassed, MERCY GRAVES!”

It’s like a fuse has gone off in the crowd, screams of girls and woman overpowering the men.

“Thirty-eight years old, and still faster and smarter than most of her youngers, Mercy certainly doesn’t live up to the name.”

Mercy emerges after the fanfare has built to her desired level, and an almost indecipherable electronic song starts to play. The volume makes the words and sound blend in a way that make her feel like she’s at a club.

Kara now has her game face on, all of the stats matter as much to her as they do to Lena.

They nod at each other, some respect shown by both fighters.

After the necessary spiel by the ref, the round begins.

They touch gloves, and then Mercy goes for a head kick. Kara ducks it and swings back up with an uppercut.

Lena can hear it from the front row.

Mercy drops to the ground, and Kara watches with the same shock that Lena can feel in the crowd.

“That’s,” Winn pauses, at a loss for words for maybe the first time in his life “That’s Kara Danvers by knockout in twenty seconds.”

Mercy looks lost as her team helps her up. Kara puts her arms out, and the crowd explodes.

The cheers are nearly deafening as Kara jumps into J’onn’s arms.

Lena can’t help but be enraptured at Kara’s modesty, saying that it’s all because of who she has in her corner. Then Kara’s abs flex with laughter, and she’s enraptured by something entirely different.

To her, the main event doesn’t matter, her hands playing with the hem of her dress in anticipation. Someone beats someone. She shoots up from her seat and goes right for the dressing room, _needing_ to see Kara.

Lex calls after her, but she dismisses him, weaving through the crowd and keeping an eye out for those blue eyes, that golden hair that looks perfect even after a long fight.

She gets to the hallway that leads into the changing room, all of the usual traffic gone.

Kara is sitting on a bench, still in her fight gear.

Lena knocks on the frame of the door, and Kara jumps a little. “Sorry Kara, I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”

“Oh, no worries at all. I was just thinking about you actually.” Kara’s eyes go wide at the admission.

Lena slinks in, now having the upper hand. “You were?”

Kara just stares at Lena as she approaches, swallowing thickly.

“What were you thinking about in particular?”

“Your neck,” Lena gets closer “Your eyes,” Lena is now within the distance she needs to be “Your mouth.”

Lena smirks “Then do something about it.”

Kara pulls Lena into her lap and kisses her with heat, making up for all the times they should have been doing this before. Kara’s mouth leaves a hot trail up her neck “You dressed like this for me.”

“Yes. All for you Kara.” Urgent hands make their way to Lena’s waist and grind her onto Kara’s thigh. “Do whatever you want to me.” Lena leans forward and whispers into Kara’s ear “Whatever you want.”

It becomes frantic, Kara working Lena against her, Lena’s whimpering becoming more pathetic.

“Oh, Lena. You drive me crazy.”

The words make her lose any semblance of rational thought.

Lena runs her nails over Kara’s back, working her tongue into the younger woman’s mouth “I’ve been waiting for this.” Lena moves her hand down to where Kara needs her most, there’s already wet heat there. “Tell me how bad you want it.” Her hand works down Kara’s shorts without the words needing to be said.

Then Kara stops grinding Lena against her, stops using her like a ragdoll. A moment later, and those soft and lips are detached from her.

“We can’t do this.” Kara pushes her away.

Lena can’t stop her pout “We already are.” She bites into Kara’s shoulder, making her shudder in response.

Then Kara lifts her off of her more firmly “No. I have too much riding on this.”

Lena looks down at Kara, who looks like a hot mess, hair tangled from more than the fight, she’s flushed and looks absolutely ready for more. “Okay.” Lena relents. She puts a finger under Kara’s chin and tilts her head up so they can look eye to eye, she sees the want in Kara’s eyes and sucks on her bottom lip as one last mark of what they did, and should be finishing. “Until next time.”

She can feel it as Kara watches her go, intense eyes on her ass as Lena sways her hips just a _little_ more than needed. 

..

Lena gets home and finds that she needs a drink, or just… something, after that.

She pours herself a glass of whiskey and sits in her recliner.

_“Oh, Lena. You drive me crazy.”_

With an unsteady hand, she takes a sip of the whiskey. Her mind goes to the way that Kara just took control, so much force, so much desire. Using Lena like a play thing.

She’s not finishing the glass. Her hand works down her panties, and another hand goes for her phone. Before her brain can catch up, she’s hitting Kara’s name in her contacts.

It only takes one ring, her other hand driving into her as she hears Kara’s breathy greeting.

“It’s me.”

A harsh gasp “Lena.” 

“Am I in trouble Kara?”

There’s another harsh gasp “Uh. No.” A muffled noise.

“I was only calling to tell you that you won’t have another fight for two months.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m still wearing the dress.” There it is, an unmistakable moan. “Want me to take it off?”

“Ah, Lena.” A long pause, something is coming off. “We,” Ruffling sheets “We can’t do this.”

Kara hangs up.

Lena leans back and drops her dress to show her breasts, taking a selfie without thought and sending it to Kara. The satisfaction of knowing that Kara won’t be able to resist looking is enough to get Lena where she needs to be, digging marks into the couch with her free hand as she hisses out Kara’s name.

.. 

Her body is thrumming with energy as she makes her way to Kara’s gym. Making the cinematic and healthy decision to walk there from a block away.

That picture wasn’t a decision she made with her brain, and she wonders how it’s going to be with Kara. They have to film at least an hour of footage.

A camera films her walking in from the outside.

Inside is several kids doing exercises on heavy bags, speed bags, jump ropes-

Kara comes from the side and puts a casual hand on her shoulder “It’s a little overwhelming at first, but it gets easier.”

Lena pulls her into a hug.

Kara releases after a normal, and not a _we almost had phone sex_ , length of time. “I’ll introduce you to J’onn first.”

There’s a kind looking older man with a booming voice directing a class of kids to punch in combinations.

“J’onn!” Kara yells, climbing into the ring and pretending to dodge the kid’s punches. “I want you to meet Lena. She’s the one heading this whole documentary thing.”

J’onn looks to the kids “You can all talk to Barney, he’s basically a talent scout, so try and look good.”

A particularly confident kid does a kick in the air “I know who he is Mr. Jones, and I’m gonna knock him off his feet.”

J’onn laughs “Hopefully not literally.”

The kids run off, leaving the three adults to do whatever it is they’re supposed to do.

J’onn puts a hand out to help her into the ring “I assume I should thank you for helping Kara’s rising star.”

Lena takes his hand “Well the two of you are the ones that are really doing it, these things haven’t even been released yet.”

He shrugs “Want to watch us spar and then give it a shot of your own?” 

Lena puts her hands up “I’m not really dressed for it.”

Kara shoves her playfully “This is a gym for kids without a lot of money, do you really think that we don’t have clothes that will fit you?”

This suspiciously feels like payback, but with the cameras on them “Okay. Only if you help me make sure I get everything on properly. Don’t want a black eye.”

A glint of frustration crosses Kara’s face before she schools her features “Of course.”

Lena gets out of the ring and watches Kara weave around punches that J’onn throws her way, and then he does the same to her, like he knows the punches before she’s going to throw them, none of them landing. Probably a result of him being her trainer, but it’s still jarring to see Kara look like such an amateur.

Then Lena gets to see why J’onn isn’t fighting anymore, after a good five minutes, he needs a breather.

Kara turns to her without a hint of exhaustion “Ready?”

Lena nods while the rest of her brain yells ‘no’.

Being led to the changing room, she can’t help but think back to a week ago. Kara opens the door to allow her in, and locks the door.

“We’re not having a repeat of last time.” Kara says firmly, grabbing gloves, clothes, and headgear.

Lena starts to taker her clothes off, staring at Kara the whole time with a grin plastered to her face.

Kara maintains eye contact, keeping her professional face on. “First, here’s the shirt.” She tosses it to Lena, and lets her put it on. “Then the shorts.” Kara sighs while holding gloves “This part I do actually have to help you with.”

She gently puts the gloves on Lena’s hands, and the tender motion sends shivers up her back.

“Now.” Kara blinks in a forceful way, like she felt that same yearning. “Let’s go and make you look good.”

Lena winks as she leads the way out “Like I need help with that.”

..

Turns out, she does need help with that. She’s awful at this. Another sloppy punch, and she almost falls over with the force.

“Need help?” Kara asks with a smile, not even having to feign a dodge against Lena’s terrible punches.

Lena nods, humbled for the first time in ages.

Kara makes her way to Lena’s back and directs her hands arms with her own strong hands. One hand goes to Lena’s legs to fix her stance. “You need a good centre to punch from.” Lena attempts a punch with Kara guiding her. “A lot better, now rotate your hips as you go.” Kara’s hands slide to Lena’s hips and she moves her as Lena attempts to punch again.

“Alright.” Kara goes back to face Lena, and she already craves for the return of contact.

Lena makes the right stance and swings out the way she was taught.

Kara’s ducks her punch.

“Oh shit.” Lena leans down “Are you okay?”

Kara is still half crouched, laughing her head off “Wow. That’s going to make for a good clip.” Kara falls to her ass and Lena exhales in annoyance.

Mxy laughs at them “Now we just need some footage with the kids and some descriptive footage.”

Lena looks down at Kara, her abs, her smile. Just having sex with her once would be enough.

Kara looks up at her, and the smile becomes something hungry.

Kara avoids Lena skilfully for the rest of the tour, only talking to her when Barney is with her.

They get a few nice moments with a group of kids, which will be a nice public image boost for the both of them, and, the non Luthor side of her realizes, it’s just a nice moment.

“Kara,” Barney puts out a hand that doesn’t quite touch Kara “One last question before we leave, how can you afford all of this?”

“Oh. To be honest, barely.”

“Huh.”

“We get some grants, and I usually lose money on it.”

“Then…” The shock on Barney’s face is nearly comical, then she remembers Lex’s thing about not being a dick to the person with autism, and forces a straight face. “Why do you do it?”

Kara shrugs, like it truly isn’t a big deal “I can afford it, so why not?”

Mxy is smiling behind the camera as he wraps the shoot for the day. “This is going to be so good. Kara, you were amazing in the last part, such a good way to end this segment.”

“Thanks?”

But they’re already packing up.

They’re gone in quick order, Barney catching a ride with them.

Lena suddenly feels the weight of the day on her “Need coffee?”

Kara hesitates and looks around to make sure that no one can hear the _oh so scandalous_ coffee invitation.

“I’m not going to jump you, I just want coffee.”

Kara shrugs “Okay. Just let me change.”

It’s cold out, so it makes sense, but Lena can’t deny she’d prefer Kara stayed in what she’s wearing.

Lena opens her phone to text Kara and gets a picture of herself with no bra as reward.

_Right_

She texts Kara that she’s outside.

Kara has some trouble making eye contact when she meets her outside. They walk in silence, order quietly, then sit on a bench to drink their coffee.

Lena takes a sip of the coffee for something to occupy herself, then finds her courage. “I forgot about the picture, that wasn’t some kind of power play.”

Kara takes a gulp “I didn’t.”

Lena turns in shock “What?”

“I didn’t forget about the picture.”

Lena tosses her coffee in the garbage and take Kara’s from her willing hands “Come home with me.”

“Just this once?”

Lena nods and calls her driver.

Kara’s fingers dig into Lena’s thigh as they drive to Lena’s condo. 

“There’s another entrance, I’ll let you in through there.”

Lena points her to where she needs to be and breaks out into the closest thing to a run that she can manage in heels. She goes to the staff entrance and swipes her key card, Kara is waiting with intense eyes. She grabs Kara by the front of her jacket and brings her into a kiss.

It’s more tender than the last, their tongues mingling and exploring the other’s mouth. Lena sighs into it, and then puts a professional distance between her and Kara, guiding her to the staff elevator that will lead to her room. The room she so desperately needs to get Kara into.

She has a hand squarely on Kara’s firm ass.

She’s never struggled this much getting into her room, her hands wobbly with anticipation. The door finally gives way, and Kara lifts her into it, pinning her to the nearest wall. The feel of Kara’s weight pushing her into the wall combined with the show of strength sends heat into Lena’s stomach. Their lips crash, nothing held back this time. Kara is biting on sensitive flesh, sucking on her neck, demolishing every part of Lena that she can get her mouth on.

Kara pulls Lena’s pants and panties off, and puts two exploring fingers between Lena’s legs. “You’re so wet for me.”

Lena can only nod, her eyes begging for more when her words can’t.

“Ask me for it, Lena.”

She loves how dominant the normally timid girl is. “Fuck me Kara. Fuck me like you should have weeks ago.”

Then Kara is driving her fingers into Lena, making her sing an embarrassing song of moans and squeals. She bites into Kara’s shoulder, feeling the solid muscle and working herself up even more. It’s a solid pace, one that has Lena wrapping her legs around Kara in desperation, knowing that any second could have her limp and holding on for dear life to the wall she’s pinned to.

Lena dares a look at Kara’s hands, and she sees her rippling forearm as those fingers pump. The hilt of Kara’s fingers are soaked with Lena, and all it does is make the mess worse.

“I came so hard to that picture.” Kara’s whispers in her ear in a harsh voice that Lena wants to hear again and again.

“Say,” Lena lets out a shocked breath as Kara works another finger into her “Say that again.”

Kara bites her earlobe and talks right into her ear with a raspy voice of want “I came so hard to that picture.”

Lena wraps her arms around Kara’s neck and unravels in her strong grip.

Kara slowly slides her to the ground as she shakes in pleasure.

“You’re, oh my god, you’re so good at that.”

“Mmhmm.” Kara licks her fingers, getting everything of Lena into her mouth “I need to taste more.”

Lena nods dumbly, and Kara is lifting her to the bedroom.

She unceremoniously drops Lena and gets to work with her tongue, painting a line up and down Lena’s already sensitive areas. Lena tries to put her hands to Kara’s head, but she pins Lena’s hand back.

Kara looks up at her, mouth covered in Lena’s want “Tell me if this is too much though.”

Lena is almost ready to cry in joy “Don’t you dare stop.”

With this, Kara doubles her efforts, and before she knows it, Lena is bucking her hips against Kara’s mouth as she laps her up.

Kara does one last sweep with her tongue and takes her own clothes off.

“Kara.” Lena says breathlessly “You’re so fucking hot.”

Kara stares at her. “Take it off.”

Lena’s legs are rubber, but she does as she’s told, not wanting to break the spell of this version of Kara who’s taking charge. Getting Kara to swear would be something, but in that regard, she doesn’t think she’s going to have much luck.

Kara lays on the bed and brings Lena in close with her legs. Lena leans down and Kara bunches a hand in her hair, just hard enough to be hot. Kara works Lena’s mouth against her, bringing Lena’s tongue exactly where it needs to be. The guiding control that Kara is taking making her wet all over again. Kara breathes heavily as Lena tries her hardest to make Kara feel even half as good as she made her feel. Kara starts to move more rapidly, breathing more feverishly, and Lena loves the way she’s being used.

Kara freezes for a moment, then she moves Lena’s mouth more firmly to her. They make eye contact for one spellbinding moment, and Kara’s head jerks back as she loses it.

Lena licks her lips and savours the taste before kissing up Kara’s twitchy body. She settles her head on Kara’s chest “Wow.” Is all she can manage to say.

Kara attempts to nod.

Once Kara is done shaking, Lena kisses her chest, loving the feeling of strength on her mouth.

She lightly grabs Lena’s jaw and pulls her into a kiss. “That was amazing.”

“You can end the sentence there.”

“But.”

Lena groans in a very different way from before.

“We seriously can’t do that again.”

Lena rolls off of her and looks to the ceiling “Whatever you say superstar. I think we both know that that it isn’t going to be long before one of us breaks.”

Kara puts her clothes on, and to her credit as a lady, kisses Lena on the way out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> But wait, there's more.

Mxy and Barney are eyeing her weirdly as she makes sure the pricing is okay for their upcoming fight night, the phone call becoming harder to focus on as their stares become more impatient.

She dismisses the venue owners in the nicest way she can and ends the call. “What do you two want?”

“Kara Danvers and Gemma Cooper are running the National City half marathon for mental health funding tomorrow.”

“And?”

“Well.” Mxy rubs the back of his neck “They’re fighting somewhat soon, and you get along really well with Kara.”

She sighs “So, you want me there.”

Barney nods “Please.”

..

Hopefully Kara won’t take this as some kind of ignorance of what she asked for. No one has been able to get her off quite as good in the following weeks since they gave in to what they wanted, but she has no issue with having Kara as a one and done amazing fuck. 

She shows up with the camera crew, spotting Kara in the pack of people stretching. She makes sure the cameras are tailing close enough behind her that Kara doesn’t get the idea that this is a social call.

And oh god, her hair is down in incredibly endearing pigtails, contrasting severely with the woman who was ordering her around and screwing her senseless.

Kara smiles at her with that thousand-watt smile, and suddenly she isn’t okay with a one and done deal. “Lena!” She lifts her into a hug, which does _things_ to her body “What are you doing here?”

A few of the other runners turn, recognizing the Luthor over the rising star.

“Well, Gemma is running too, so Barney thought it might be a good idea for me to show up.”

Kara grins with the same cockiness reserved for fight night “You guys really have a lot of faith in me then.” She puts her hands on her hips “I’ll try my best to not disappoint.”

She bites back the comment ‘as if you could ever’. “What brings you here today Kara?”

The cameras are rolling now.

“Well, it’s something I’m interested in supporting, and training for this is just like endurance training for fighting, so J’onn approves.”

“Do you mind if I ask why you’re interested in supporting this?”

“I, after my parents died, there were a lot of supports to get me through it. And I heard that things were getting defunded, so I talked to Gemma, and we decided that us being here might get some publicity.” Kara smiles and leans in “ _You’re not the first interview_.” She whispers conspiratorially.

“Does the upcoming fight with Gemma make this tense at all?”

Kara turns to laugh at a joke that another runner has made “No, not at all. Until we’re in that ring, me and Gemma are two women with similar morals.”

Gemma nods behind her, then ducks out of the view of the camera. Lena looks after the other fighter questioningly.

“Yeah. She really doesn’t want to interview.” A few yells sound off, and Kara’s face changes to one of focus “I’ve gotta go.” She runs off, looking back for a brief moment “Wish me luck!”

“Good luck.” Lena calls after her, feeling an ache that needs to be soothed.

They sit at the finish line, and Lena is bored out of her mind. She knows if she goes on her phone there’s going to be a lot of pictures making fun of her for being a millennial with no attention span. But, _come on_ , there’s nothing to see here.

Then people start crossing the finish line, out of breath and drenched in sweat. She’s surprised not to see Kara or Gemma as the first of the pack.

“Where are they?” She turns to Mxy.

He chuckles “They’re fighters, the people who already crossed train exclusively for this marathon.”

She sighs and realizes they have an even longer wait ahead of them.

A mix of people cross in what could be ten or thirty minutes, she doesn’t know because one picture of her being bored could give way to an article that makes something out of nothing.

Then Kara and Gemma come around the corner, hand in hand, and she realizes no one will care if she had been on her phone the whole time.

They’re laughing hysterically and make a big show of raising their hands once they cross the line.

“Hey, Lena!” Kara weaves through the crowd with Gemma in tow “Let’s get you that picture.”

Kara and Gemma hoist a screeching Lena up onto their shoulders. Lena grabs onto their heads for balance, screech turning into a bubbly laugh. People run past them, finishing the race with looks of amusement and annoyance at the loud roadblock the three of them have become.

Mxy directs the cameramen to get footage of them, and gets one of the principal photographers to make a nice portrait. Gemma transfers Lena to fully be on Kara’s shoulders, and Lena steers her by her pigtails, the part of her that isn’t aware of the cameras wanting to tug a lot harder.

Kara laughs as she’s guided, pretending to be directed into Mxy and his camera crew. “Oh no. I can’t stop, you guys have to watch out!”

She gives them an extra second to get out the way, and then barrels through. Kara keeps walking, then lets Lena down when they’re past any prying eyes.

Lena beams up at Kara “That a warm up for later?”

She searches for any audience, a blush colouring her cheeks that isn’t just from the run she finished. “That has to just be a one-time thing.”

Lena can’t deny she’s disappointed, but she’s no going to make a scene about it. “Okay. Good run Kara.”

Kara puts a hand out “Wait.”

Lena does as she’s told.

A few people run by, clearly the half marathon didn’t take enough out of them. Kara stares at Lena, those blue eyes looking at her with _something_. “I still want to be your friend. I like you Lena, you’re fun, and you make me laugh, and I don’t feel like a…”

“Celebrity?”

Kara nods with a smile “Two days from now, I’m going for a hike in the forest near my house. Please,” Kara delicately holds her hand out “Come with me?”

Lena feigns that she’s thinking about it, then regrets it as Kara’s hand drops “Of course. I’d like nothing more.”

There is something that she’d like more, and she’s going to work on looking good enough that she gets it.

..

Thea is following her, hungover, but not drunk. “When is Felicity going to be here?”

Lena combs through the designer hiking pants “Why do you need to see your sister-in-law? Is my company not good enough?”

“I need someone to help me piece together why you’re suddenly obsessed with hiking. And why you have to look so damn nice for it.”

Lena looks at a particularly nice pair and adds it to her cart. She looks over her haul and nods to herself, having successfully scoured the store.

Felicity comes in with a purse that’s overflowing with receipts “Oliver took them to Archery of all things.”

Thea pulls her into a hug “That’s Ollie for you.”

Lena smiles at Felicity “You’re just in time for the fashion show.”

Felicity groans and drops her purse into Lena’s cart “First, tell me that I’m going to be seeing my husband more.”

Lena pushes the cart along to the changing room “Yes. Roy is only booked for a few small matches until the public gets faith in him again.”

“Then tell me how you’re doing. How’s the gallery looking?”

Thea pokes Lena in the side “Yeah, I almost forgot, how _is_ the photography thing going?”

In one of her rare instances of modesty, Lena hides her face from them “It’s… going. A lot of the pictures I didn’t keep.”

“Oh my god,” Thea lays across Lena’s cart, stopping her movement “You burnt all the pictures again, didn’t you?”

“Me and Kyle ended things, and that was a part of the deal.”

Felicity drags Thea off of the cart “The pictures you showed us were totally fit for a gallery, not like artists mind a little bit of skin.”

“He would have though.”

Thea shrugs “The other pictures were fantastic though, you have enough even without subjects, the way you captured the essence of Lillian’s care home.” Thea makes firework gestures with her hands “That alone could get you attention.”

Lena knows it’s true, she submitted the photo anonymously and it still won Providence Care’s photo competition. “Thanks again, Felicity.”

Felicity sticks her tongue out in an attempt to not laugh “Scrubbing your online trail took like ten minutes.”

“That’s more a testament to your skill than to how easy it is.”

“I’m not too sure about that.” 

Lena goes into the changeroom before Felicity can deflect any more compliments.

It takes about six pairs before she finds something she can bend her knees in while still having something form fitting enough to turn Kara’s head.

“Now for the top.”

Her friends groan in annoyance.

..

She rings Kara’s doorbell, more than satisfied with her choice in clothes.

Kara answers with a wide smile “Lena, it’s so-“ The smile turns into something like shock as she takes in what’s been carefully selected for her.

“It’s good to see you too Kara.” Lena takes her into a hug so she can hide the devious smile that’s on her face.

“Come in.”

Kara closes the door, and Lena gets a nice view, regardless of Kara being dressed normally, it’s still… “You look really nice Kara.”

Kara brushes a hand over the side of her top “Thanks. I dressed a little nicer for you if I’m being honest.” She looks away a little bashfully.

_If only she knew_

“I’m flattered.”

Kara makes her way to the back of her house and grabs a backpack that has the unmistakable sound of swishing water.

When they step out, the sun is still high, and Kara sprays herself with some bad smelling bug repellant. She gestures to Lena, who gives herself a healthy dose.

“Trust me?” Kara asks with a laugh as she makes her way into the thicket of trees.

“I do.” The words slip out with some reverence that seems misplaced for how casual this is meant to be.

Kara moves into the trees, unaware or uncaring of the words.

The forest is welcoming, mixed with some hints of the Autumn weather that’s yet to settle, and she gets to see a pleasant show of what nature has to offer.

“I spend so much time in the city.” Lena takes in a deep breath of the natural air. “I sometimes forget what it’s like to be out here.”

With a smile that somehow never stops being enticing, Kara points to a hill. “We only have a few hours before it gets gross out here with the bugs, so I want to take you there.”

“This where you take all the woman you’ve slept with?”

Kara stops for a beat, and Lena worries she’s gone too far. “Well, I took one person here before, years ago.”

Lena moves as Kara does, ducking a few branches that hang down to try and scratch their heads.

“His name was Mon-El”

Lena watches Kara’s gaze get unfocused.

“He grew up in a hippy commune, next to the ones that my parents sprang from when they had me.”

“That explains the name.”

Kara laughs with some sadness poorly hidden. “He preferred to go by Mike, but I feel that’s ingenuine to how special he was.”

“You two…?”

“We were going to get married actually. But asthma had different plans, he was mapping out some hiking path in Metropolis and,” Her laugh is forced “I always told him to keep his inhaler on him.”

Lena puts a sympathetic hand to Kara’s shoulder “I’m so sorry to hear that. I know it doesn’t mean much, but I lost my ex-boyfriend Jack right as we were patching things up, so I know what it’s like to lose people.”

Kara sighs into her grip “Thank you. It does mean something, it means a lot.” Kara blinks a few times to clear the half-formed tears “We should keep going.”

They fill the air with idle chatter, anything from the National City basketball team that Kara loves “The Lakehawks are doing so good this year.”

To the way that James Olsen is considering buying a newspaper company and Lena has to pretend they don’t have a past. “I could see it, he’s well spoken.”

A chipmunk runs by and Kara giggles in delight.

“They’re just like small squirrels.” Lena touts, ever the pessimist.

Kara frowns at her, the diminishing light giving her an orange glow that flatters her unfairly “Chipmunks have never tipped over my garbage cans.”

Kara catches Lena before she even knows she’s falling “There’s a lot of roots around here.”

Kara’s eyes go to her chest, and Lena can’t help the sultry smile she responds with. “My hero.”

Kara lets her up, pointedly avoiding eye contact. “We’re almost there.”

There are a few close calls with other roots, but Kara has enough distance between them that she’s not willing to try and re-enact what happened earlier.

The path they’re supposed to take is blocked by a freshly knocked over tree, the leaves on it don’t seem to get the memo that they’re dead, growing in a dizzying array of orange and red. Kara helps her over in a strictly platonic way, even as Lena lets her fingers linger over her palm.

It’s steep as they make their way up, Kara taking a swig of water as they go and offers it to Lena.

“You sure you’re not worried about getting cooties?”

“Lena,” Kara puts her hands to her knees to laugh with only the slightest hint of the exhaustion that Lena is experiencing “We screwed each other senseless, and I got tested, so I’m not worried about anything.”

That wasn’t what she expected, but it’s nice to have the sex acknowledged. “Senseless?”

Whatever jab she had set up next is shot out of her brain by the view. A stitching of green, red, yellow, and orange stare back at her.

It’s a beautiful tapestry of colours on trees that stretches to the almost settled sun.

“Wow.”

Kara just nods silently, taking in the majesty of the view like she hasn’t seen it before.

Without the ulterior motives that have been guiding Lena’s action throughout the night, she takes Kara into a tight hug. “This is beautiful. Thank you.”

Kara stares at her like she’s the beautiful thing, and Lena finds herself almost unable to resist the urge to take her there. But, it has to be Kara that makes the move, Kara that admits through her actions that this shouldn’t be a one time thing.

They make the trek to Kara’s house, devoid of any romantic hallmarks on the way back.

“Sorry for unloading all that on you.” Kara whispers as the sun sets behind them.

“Hey.” Lena stops her “Thank you for sharing that. It’s all part of being friends.”

“Yeah,” Kara goes up to her screen door with some artificial speed “I guess it is.”

Lena follows her, checking briefly in the reflection of her phone for anything out of place.

Kara already has her shoes off, putting tired feet up onto a footrest. “Most of my friends don’t like to make the drive out here, or talk about him, about Mon-El.”

A framed picture next to the couch of Kara, with Barry Allen and Nia Nal, begs to differ. But she supposes that it’s easier in some ways to talk to someone you don’t know too well, about things that you _do_ know too well. 

Instead of trying to find some platitude that will make Kara feel better, Lena just sits in the chair next to her, kicking herself onto the same footrest. She nudges at Kara’s feet with her own “Want some wine?”

Kara barks out a laugh “Shouldn’t I be offering? This being my house and all?”

Lena springs up “Yes but as your _friend_ I have to notice when the offer should be made.”

While leaning back into her chair, Kara points to a cabinet “Take the two pinot noir bottles.”

She grabs and then sets the bottles down, finding glasses by herself “And the opener is where?”

“You’ll come to realize that I’m not very complicated, they’re twist offs.”

Lena comes back in and sets the bottles and glasses between the two of them.

..

Lena has almost polished her bottle off, and Kara isn’t far behind.

“Why,” Kara almost loses some of her wine to the rug “Does Lex wear the hairpiece? Like, he looks good bald, looks intimidating, kinda badass.”

“Trustme, I know.” Lena clinks her glass to Kara’s “He’s been bald for twenty years, he says it’s so that people don’t recognize him out of the ring.” Her alcohol ridden brain tells her the truth she already knows “It works though, so I can’t really be mad.”

..

Kara’s bathroom is an eclectic mix of modernized and painfully old, her sink has water pressure that belongs at a cabin, and her toilet has a heated seat. Lena stares at herself in the mirror, pushing stray hairs out of her face and prepping herself for the next move.

She saunters out of the bathroom with one thing in mind. “Kara, how drunk are you?”

Kara is dropping their glasses into the dishwasher “Not very.” She laughs at something “Not anymore at least, I took a breather outside.”

“I’m not drunk, but I don’t know if I can go home like this.” Lena hops onto the counter to stare at Kara, daring her to make a move.

A few glances at Lena’s cleavage, at Lena’s lips that are pouted just for Kara. “You got dropped off.”

She’s dealing with a smart one “Too drunk to be spotted going home.”

Kara looks up at her defiantly “You can sleep in my old bedroom.”

Lena leans down “Do you really want me to be doing that though?”

Several emotions fight for dominance on Kara’s face before one wins: _lust_. “No.” Kara grabs her by the scalp and brings her down into a passionate kiss that speaks for what the past hours could never cover.

“Take me.”

And Kara listens this time, taking Lena to her bedroom. The mattress is huge, and Kara is throwing Lena’s clothes off like each second they stay on somehow raises the chances of this stopping. Not that she minds the ferocity, not that she minds it at all.

Before her panties are even off, there’s a strong finger teasing her that begs for Kara to do more, take more.

Kara is close, her breath warm “You wore all this for me, didn’t you?”

“Yes, this was all for you. I’m here for you.”

Her panties are off and she’s face down into Kara’s already crumpled sheets. A hand is holding her hair in a tight grip, and the other is teasing her. Fingers explore her, moving her up and down to Kara’s whim.

Kara leans forward and pulls Lena’s head up to meet her “You’re so hot when you work for me.”

Lena bites into the sheets “Anything for you.”

Another finger goes in and Lena hisses, knowing that these sheets are going to be soaked in everything that Lena has to offer. “Come for me Lena.”

She just had sex a few nights ago, she shouldn’t be so sensitive. Her body goes to Kara’s rhythm and bows to her demand.

“ _Fuck._ ”

She goes boneless against Kara’s bed and barely registers the hands moving to caress her burning skin.

Kara kisses along the side of Lena’s body, making noises of contentment as Lena jolts at each touch, eventually resting on her back with a sigh. “You planned this whole thing.”

Lena shimmies her way down to Kara’s pants and slides them off “I’m just getting started.”

..

She’s tangled in Kara and in Kara’s sheets when she wakes, she turns over to see the woman equally as ravished as her. With strong satisfaction and a face splitting smile, she takes out her contact lens and lets sleep take her back.

..

The smell of food is filling the air. She sniffs again, it’s _good_ food. With a sheet haphazardly wrapped around her, and the contact lens put back in, she makes her way to Kara’s kitchen with a stupid smile on her face.

Lena leans against the kitchen doorway and whistles at Kara expertly folding an omelette. “You spoil me.”

Kara turns with the spatula held high, like she’ll defend herself with it given the chance “I usually don’t have people over. And I figured it would give us a chance to talk.”

Lena’s stupid smile drops “Can we stop pretending we don’t want this?”

Kara motions for her to go to the table and lays out their breakfast, French toast, omelettes and bacon. “ _If_ , this happens again, we need to have some rules.”

Lena bites into her food and lets out a breath of approval “This is so fucking good.”

Kara smiles at her “Nothing serious. The only thing worse than people finding out about this, is for people to think we’re in love.”

Lena nods along as she chews, finding the rules and the food agreeable.

“My place or yours. No random hookups.”

This also works for her “Oh damn you got orange juice.” Lena downs half her glass.

“Lastly. We don’t tell anyone.”

Lena cuts a piece of her omelette, “No falling in love, fuck at one of our places, and don’t tell people that we’re fucking. Seems good. Now eat.” and shoves it into Kara’s mouth.

Once they’re finished, Lena puts the dishes away and crawls on the floor to Kara, letting the sheets fall with the movement of her body “I have to pay you back for that wonderful breakfast.”

Kara looks down at her with a smirk, her perfect hair serving only to highlight the flex of her shoulders. “Get to paying then.”

And oh, does she ever.

..

Lena sits outside of Providence Care with her hands firmly holding the fabric of the seat in front of her. The fun of yesterday almost let her forget about this chore. Lillian wasn’t pleasant before this, but now every outburst is sad as well as scary. Lena knocks on the divider to attract her driver’s attention “Do you mind letting me out here? I’ll have them let you in to pick me up at the entrance. Won’t be long, can’t miss the fight.”

“Of course, Ms. Luthor. Take your time.”

As she emerges into the midday sun, she thinks it would be funny if just once a driver would say no.

Walking up to the entrance gives her time to think of a good lie for why Lex isn’t there, god knows that he has even more free time than her.

She decides on saying hair implants, if Lillian can remember to ask. It’s bitter and petty, but it’s what she’s settled on.

Signing in at the front desk gets her an eyeful of the view outside, a glittering lake with people walking their dogs and swimming. There was a lot of deliberation as to whether or not it was good for the patients to see people living better than them, and then a multitude of studies happened to find their way over, and the windows are now one of the best maintained things about the building.

The man at the front desk gives her an appreciative smile “Thank you so much for the recent donation Ms. Luthor. I know your mother is being taken good care of.”

A mean part of her wants to say that it’s for every patient here who wasn’t being given adequate care, that they could leave her abusive mother in a corner and she’d be just as happy. Civility wins over “I appreciate that Dan, but I truly just want to see everyone here treated as well as she is.”

He accepts this response and she’s permitted to go. 

It feels like walking down the hallway to her execution, an execution that she forces herself to attend once or twice a year out of some perverse sense of owing Lillian something. She waves hello to a few different people, stalling as much as she can.

The elevator is waiting for her, not allowing her any extra time to delay her self-induced torture. She punches for the door to close, then presses with some care for the third floor, not allowing anger to be the lead in her actions. The reflection in her phone shows a stressed out Luthor with not a single hair out of place, but, with a few bags under her eyes from the fruitless attempt at sleep the night before.

**Palliative care unit.**

She gets out and psyches herself up for what’s to come. Lillian’s door is ajar, so Lena lets herself in.

“Mom?”

Lillian is staring out the window.

Lena approaches her with a cautious hand raised “Mom?”

“I’m not dead.”

Lena startles “You’re such an ass.”

“Maybe if I wasn’t here against my will, I’d be nicer.”

Lena laughs and leans on the window sill “We both know that’s not true.”

Lillian does her best attempt at nonchalance.

“Lex sends his best.”

“Who?”

Lena sighs “Doesn’t matter. How are you?”

Lillian refuses to make eye contact “Adequate. I think they have aliens working here.”

And it only took a record of two minutes for her to bring it up. “In the hospital?” She’s not supposed to feed into the delusions, but she doesn’t have the energy for an argument “That’s too bad, I’ll have to vet some of the staff.” Which really means she’ll ask for a different nurse to serve her mom.

“They got your father. They’re just biding their time until they can get to me.”

She’s gone over the heart attack so many times. “I’ll make sure the good ones keep an eye out.”

Lillian coughs onto the window, not caring about the glob of spit that marks her view “You still experimenting?”

“Am I still bisexual?”

Lillian rolls her eyes, one of the few things she can still manage “Same difference.”

“Yes mom, I’m still bisexual.”

“You’ll never settle down that way. Even being a lesbian would be better, but no one wants a woman who can’t make up her mind.”

Lena hates the tears that are trying to fall, these betrayer tears that still care about what some woman who popped drugs with such efficiency she ended up here thirty years early. “This was great mom, glad to see nothing has changed.”

And she’s out of the room, choosing the stairs to give herself some reason to look so red in the face.

..

Kara gives Lena a layered look as she enters the arena.

Lena holds her hands up in a gesture of innocence, she honestly didn’t know that Kara would be here, hoped maybe, but didn’t know. Lena makes her way over and sees Kara is seated with her sister and a woman she doesn’t recognize.

Alex gets up first “Ms. Luthor, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hi, you as well. Who’s your friend? I don’t think we’ve met.” _Or that she showed up in the light online stalking I did_

The woman stands “I guess you and James really were casual. I’m Kelly Olsen, and Alex is my fiancée.”

James’ sister, and Kara, cool. She can handle this. “Well, it’s nice to finally make your acquaintance.”

Alex sits back down and locks her hand into Kelly’s “You look a little lonely in the cheap seats.” She’s referring to the _very_ expensive ringside seats, that even Lex couldn’t be bothered to show up for ‘only two main event fights, no thanks’.

“Oh, well there has to be at least one Luthor in attendance.”

Alex laughs and untangles her hand from Kelly’s to make an obscene gesture “Lex, _out with a cold_?”

Kara fails to stop the snort that follows. Lena stares her down, and Kara looks at some ceiling lights like they’re the most interesting thing she’s ever seen.

Alex wipes a tear away “Seriously though, our dad is looking like a no show again, so we’ve got a spare seat.”

A spare seat next to Kara. Not taking the offer would be weird, so she shuffles past the fiancées and sits next to Kara, entirely unsure of what to do with her hands.

Kara looks at her with wide pleading eyes, then a normal look passes over her face. “Lena, you excited for the fight tonight?”

“Honestly, after visiting my mother, I’m really in the mood to watch some people get punched in the fucking face.”

Kara gasps and then breaks out into a howling laugh.

“When did you two get so close?” Alex asks with a smile.

Kara breaks out into a fresh fit of laughter “Alex, you’re ruining my master plan to be the main event.”

Lena kicks her, making sure not to use her heel and damage the new star of the woman’s division. “And here I thought we were really making progress with those documentary episodes.”

Kara whips her hair into Lena’s face “I’m just a wonderful actress.”

Kelly shushes them as the lights drop and the introductions start.

She really should be paying attention, but Kara is wearing a skirt for once in her life, a skirt that gives very easy access to where her hands _need_ to be. There’s no resistance at first as her hand sneaks up, ghosting touches on Kara’s thigh, Kara gives her a glance, and positions herself in a more accessible way. Lena has her eyes on the fight, seeing Manchester Black put in a good effort, but her attention is on the way that she can feel Kara’s breathing get sharper.

Kara’s hands place Lena’s hands back on her lap with a sense of finality. The first fight is over, and she’s somewhat sure that Manchester won. She usually cares about these fights, but it’s so hard for her to focus when Kara is so readily available.

“I’m going to get some fresh air.” Lena gets up, devising a plan for Kara to give in to what she wants.

The walk from the car to the entrance didn’t give her an excuse to bring a jacket. She makes her way to the sound studio, looking for the tallest man on staff “Ralph.”

Ralph ducks under the doorframe, as if to illustrate his height.

“If I give you a hundred dollars can I borrow your coat for the night?”

“You could just pay for my cab home, I walked here, that’s the only reason I need the jacket.”

Lena goes into her wallet “Mr. Dibny, one hundred dollars can buy you a cab. And you get you jacket back, take the deal.”

He hands over the jacket and stuffs the money into his pocket. “Thanks?”

“Yeah, don’t mention it. _Seriously_ don’t mention it.” She makes it back to their seats on time, and sees a mix of dread and relief on Kara’s face as they make eye contact.

“You didn’t have a coat before.” Kara notes.

“Perks of owning this particular venue is that I can leave things here.” She sits down and drapes the jacket over her and Kara’s laps “You mind holding onto this? I need to look good for the cameras.”

Kara leans in to whisper “What’s your angle?”

The lights do down again, and Lena works her hand to where it didn’t finish its work before “I’m actually working on getting a better one.” She rubs her middle finger over Kara’s panties and takes perverse joy in Kara’s face of shock. No hand shoots out to stop her this time, so Lena makes her way past the panties to find what she really wants. Slick with anticipation, she finds no resistance to her fingers going in.

Kara grips the armrests like they’ll help her somehow. There are punches being thrown left and right as she works Kara up. They go to the ground in a wrestle, and Lena goes deeper, loving the show going on beside her more than the one that’s going in front of her. She’s working Kara up to a release, and the man in the ring looks about ready to tap for a release of his own.

If she times this right… Heavy breathing lines up with a red face.

The crowd erupts, and Kara’s moan is only loud enough for Lena to hear.

Kara is spent, gasping against her chair as she looks at Lena in shock. “We broke a rule.”

Alex and Kelly are toasting to the match, oblivious.

“Yes, yes we did.”

Kara moves forward with a bit of hesitance “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“Want to get revenge?”

Kara’s eyes betray her interest “Hey Alex, Kelly.” They turn to her “I’m going to get a drink with Lena, you guys go on ahead.”

Alex salutes at her and takes another swig “I’d be celebrating too, that guy is a prick.”

They wait in their seats for the majority of people to spill out, when Lena sees less of an audience, she pushes her fingers apart, appreciating the stickiness, and staring at Kara as she plays with it.

“Do you not care about being subtle?” Kara helps her up regardless.

“It just looks like I’m on drugs and playing with my fingers.”

Kara brings them down to ringside “Where are we going then druggy?”

“Well… we already broke one of the rules, and I know you have practice early tomorrow.”

“Neither of us can make the commute without having to sleep over, and I assume you also have things to do in the morning.”

Lena exhales out of her nose “Not how I would have phrased it, but yes.”

Kara’s tilts her head in annoyance.

Then she remembers the perks of being an owner “There was only one match for women tonight.”

“I know, what’s your point?”

Lena smiles and jingles a set of keys “They have showers.”

Kara looks ready to jump her bones then and there.

With artificial distance between them, they make it to the changing room. Lena gets the door open and locks it just in time to be slammed into it.

“You couldn’t follow one simple rule?”

Lena takes in a breath that tells Kara just how much she’s enjoying this “If I promise to still not fall in love, can you keep this energy up?”

Kara bites hard into Lena’s shoulder “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”

“I.” Lena licks Kara’s neck and kisses along her jaw “Am asking.” She scratches Kara’s toned back “You, to ravage me.”

“I warned you.”

Whatever comeback Lena had is gone to Kara bringing her to the floor, drawing an indescribable shape of pleasure on Lena’s core. She’s writhing against Kara, Kara, who seems to have a shortcut to giving Lena an orgasm.

Kara, who is staring at her with those intense blue eyes that melt her everywhere. “Rule breakers get punished.” She says with a soaked mouth.

“P-please punish me.”

A finger goes in and turns Lena into a swearing mess of extasy.

..

Kara is working for a full breath on top of her, giving Lena a chance to feel abs working against her in a pleasant way. “We need to shower.”

Lena, still sore with pleasure, has to stop Kara’s wandering hands “If you do that again I’ll have to be taken out of here in a wheelchair.”

Kara lifts her and kisses Lena as she turns the water to something nice. A look of bliss that Lena hasn’t had the honour of seeing before overtakes Kara’s face “The water pressure in this arena is unbeatable.”

The water soaks that golden hair in a way that teases Lena’s unoccupied hands. “Like you?”

“I’ve lost before.” She brings Lena into the warm spray with her “Not since meeting you though,” She massages Lena’s scalp “Maybe you’re my good luck charm.”

Lena explores Kara’s muscles, prying and playing with anything she can get her hands on.

Kara nibbles at her neck “Would you still want this if I wasn’t so ripped?”

“Hell yeah, you’re hot, and you make me laugh. You’re already making it up the ranks of fuck buddies and we’ve done this like three times.”

“I didn’t realize we were keeping count.”

A droplet of water runs down the line of Kara’s chest, drawing Lena’s eyes exactly where they need to be. “Sit on my face.”

Kara smiles and slowly pushes Lena to the floor of the shower “If I can walk after this, we should go.”

Lena looks at her through eyes that are blinded with lust “If you can walk after this, I failed.” 

..

Days later, she’s helping with a commercial when _that_ disarming smile is directed at her through a screen. It’s a bit much when she’s cramped in an editing room with her employees.

“She looks perfect.” She hopes no one can hear the admiration in her voice.

They run through it one more time, and she notices that the section with James Olsen doesn’t time right with Manchester Black saying ‘I’ll take him down the same as any other.’”

“Guys run that back, it ends weirdly. Maybe try slow motion on the last punch.”

They slow it down and the audio track finally runs right.

“Perfect. I know that this seems stupid when we’re a day away, but there’s just so much good audio that came out yesterday.”

Barney is laughing at the back of the room “Lena, I’m the one who brought it, I don’t mind.”

Lena shares a sympathetic look with an editor “Yes, but you aren’t the one who has to program this stuff to look nice.”

He spins in his chair “Fair enough.”

Tomorrow is fight night, and she needs her fix. She’s fixated on Kara and what Kara can do to her, she knows that this honeymoon period will pass, that one of them will get bored, but she can’t deny her body what it so desperately needs.

She gets in her car and gives him an excuse for why she’s going to Kara’s, feeling scandalous at how she has to hide this, and calls her.

“Kara.” She can’t subdue the want in her voice.

“If you come over, you can’t make any moves on me. It’ll just be me eating you out til you tap.”

Lena lets out a moan of contentment “Keep talking like that and I’ll get my driver to turn around.”

“You just assumed I’d be free?”

“Hoped.”

“You can stay the night, but, no funny business, and we can’t go to the fight together.”

“No shit.” Lena can’t stop the Luthor tone that seeps in.

“I will seriously pin you down if you try anything.”

“Go on.”

Kara sounds a little farther away, like she’s thrown the phone “Just ring the doorbell when you’re here.”

She checks and sees that she does have her camera. Maybe now is the time to ask?

..

The doorbell isn’t even done its chime before the door is open, Kara is wearing a bra and shorts, hair hanging in loose waves.

“Why can’t I touch you?”

She smirks “Sexual frustration helps me fight better.”

Lena walks in as Kara moves for her “What do you do usually?”

“Not have sex this often honestly.”

 _Since Mon-El_ doesn’t have to be verbalized. “Well, I plan on changing that.”

Kara now has her pressed up against a wall, and Lena lets her purse fall to the floor “Oh really?”

Lena looks up at the hunger in her eyes, loving how overwhelmed she is every time. “Ruin me.”

Kara does a goofy salute “Yes ma’am.”

The laugh that wants to come is cut silent by Kara pulling her pants down, “Not on the couch at le-“

Then her words are lost to Kara’s mouth.

A sturdy hand on her chest is the only thing that keeps her standing when Kara has her cracking apart. “Kara.”

She looks up at Lena, and she knows there’s no chance that they’re getting anywhere else until she has another orgasm, not that it’s so bad to be serviced thoroughly by Kara right before fight night.

When she’s done for the second time, Lena lightly slams her head back and slides down to Kara, who holds her together in an encompassing embrace. Once her brain is able to come up with something coherent, and Kara is done making sure the makeup on her neck will have to be layered, she actually thinks of something to say “I think you needed this more than I did.”

Kara mumbles something into her collarbone, and sucks on battered flesh.

Lena moves her head to try and get Kara to repeat herself, but all it does is leave Lena’s neck more exposed, causing a relieved _oh_ to leave her mouth. She tries to move her head again, but Kara holds her in place, smiling at the way that Lena squirms in pleasure. A mix of tongue and lips attack her pulse point, making her jerk in place, her mind not working, lost to the feeling in the best way. Mixed with the back to back orgasms, and she’s only hazily aware of being bridal carried to Kara’s bed.

Kara sucks on her bottom lip and takes most of Lena’s clothes off “Goodnight Lena.”

Through heavily lidded eyes, she protests “Let me touch you.”

The sheets go over them and she brings Lena into the curve of her chest “I will tie you down if that’s what it takes.”

This has Lena a little more awake “Oh?”

“Shut up, you bottom.”

Finding it in herself to be offended seems less important that snuggling up to the block of chiseled warmth beside her.

“Why did you bring a camera?”

Lena finds the answer slipping out easily “I love photography.” She blames it on a mix of post sex haziness and just how great of a cuddler Kara is. She turns and sees her purse on the end table.

“What type?”

Kara is playing with her hair in a way that has her lulled further and further into a dream like state “Portraits, still life, landscapes, architectural.”

“Jack of all trades.”

“I shoot everything on film, more fun that way.”

Kara buries her face into Lena’s hair “Hipster.”

“Maybe.” She pushes her ass into Kara so that she can get some kind of touching in tonight. “How about you, what would you be if you weren’t a fighter?”

“A chef.”

Lena hums happily at the image, in her mind’s eye, Kara is still in pretty good shape, making Lena food.

“Jeremiah skipping out meant that I had to something more solid, and with sponsorships, this ended up being that.”

She’s drifting into sleep “Your adopted dad left?” She uses the tired as excuse for letting it slip that she looked in to Kara’s family.

“He’s still around _technically_ , just, lost to his work I suppose.”

“My mom doesn’t believe in bisexuality, and she thinks aliens killed my dad.”

“I believe in you Lena.”

“ _Thas sweet_.” She murmurs, sleep taking her.

..

She wakes to something nice again, if this whole fighting thing doesn’t work out, she thinks that Kara could be her personal chef, some added bonuses to that position for both of them. Maybe she should invest in a chef’s hat.

Lena makes her way to the kitchen. For Lena, there’s crepes with blueberries, and sausage on the side, for Kara however “Are those steel cut oats?”

“What?” She questions through a mouth that’s overflowing with horse food.

“If I have to eat that flavourless crap to look like you, I don’t want it.”

“You already look like you, and that’s good enough for me.”

Lena blushes as the compliment nearly takes her legs out from under her “Well played Kara.”

She swallows a ludicrous amount of oats “I’m known for my strategy.”

The food, same as last time, is amazing.

“Seriously, when you retire, be a chef.”

Kara smiles at her, looking way too put together for this early in the day.

“Can I take a picture of you?” The words are out before she can think them through.

“Sure. Do I need to pose?”

“No.” Lena goes to the bedroom and grabs her camera.

The light from the forest is coming in perfectly with the rising sun. She frames Kara with the faint glow outlining her figure in a heavenly way, beams of light cutting through the curls in her hair. A few clicks, and she’s satisfied.

“I feel like I just gave permission to something more than it seems.”

“I’ll get rid of the pictures once we stop,” She gestures between the two of them “You know, this.” Lena says, but she thinks

_How right she is_

..

Lex is staring at her like she has two heads. “You okay over there?”

Lena is tapping her thighs in wait, needing the fights to start and end so that she can get her hands on Kara, be permitted to touch the other woman. “Yup, just a lot of good match ups tonight.”

Felicity shows up looking ragged “Sorry, me and Ollie were just dropping the kids with Diggle.”

It’s a bit of a strange relationship that they have with their driver, but she tries not to judge what works. “Glad you could make it, Thea is passed out on my couch.”

“Classic Thea.”

She’s about to voice her agreement when the lights go down.

“This is the moment you’ve been waiting for.”

_I’m waiting for something different Winn_

“J’onn Constantine versus Leonard Snart, Kara Danvers versus Gemma Cooper, and James ‘The Guardian’ Olsen versus Manchester Black.”

She catches Felicity up on the beef, or lack of, with all of the fighters while Winn gives the DEO version over the speakers.

Without her noticing, the fight has begun.

Constantine is clearly the better of the two, he dances around the punches and taunts Leonard.

Leonard is drawn in, and a kick to the head is his reward.

Constantine grins “Come on lad, let’s at least give them a show.”

Leonard snarls and throws some actual good chest punches.

“That’s more like it.” Constantine brings him in close and elbows his back a few times, before throwing him away.

Constantine turns his back to Leonard, and Leonard charges like a bull, throwing a punch that Constantine ducks and flips into a kick to the head.

Constantine watches closely to make sure that Leonard is out. “Sorry ‘bout that.” Then his focus goes to Lex “Come on Lexy, you and I both know that I should be able to skip some of this, I led my division.”

Lex stands next to her, taking it in stride “New weight class Constantine, you work your way up the same as anyone.”

“Get me some better lightweights.”

Lex leans to whisper in Lena’s ear “ _That’s rich coming from the drunk_.”

Constantine gives a stilted interview while doctors check on Leonard.

It’s right before the fight, so she has no reasonable explanation to be disappointed in Kara not texting her. Though the amount of pent up sexual energy she has is anything but reasonable.

Lena walks to get herself a drink, needing something to get the energy out, and getting a nice dose of confused looks from Lex and Felicity on her return. “Me and Kara are friends now, which is kind of your fault, so,” She looks to Lex “I’m stressed for her. Leave me alone.”

Lex laughs and continues whatever he was talking with Felicity about. The light show starts, doing the dance around they’re meant to, and Lena knows to sit.

Drug testing on employees revealed nothing on Winn, except that he takes an unusual amount of motion sickness drugs. Yet, every time that he jumps with that same intense energy and projects a voice that sounds just as excited every night, she wonders.

“Kara ‘The girl of steel’ Danverrrrrrrs!”

Kara comes out, her look giving no evidence to the way that she added to her knockout streak on Lena with a combination of tongue and finger expertise.

“With a _six-fight_ winning streak, this woman has no signs of stopping. ‘The girl of steel’ takes every punch like you or I would take a punch from a child. She has a winning smile and a winning attitude that seem to be working for her.” Kara gets into the octagon, and the face of focus overtakes that warm smile “Let’s see if she can keep this streak going.”

“Against _Gemma Cooper_!” The simulated fireworks were just the right amount of ridiculous for someone who fights as weirdly as Gemma. “This is one of our most unique fighters, she mixes several martial arts into her own expressionist style reminiscent of a time long gone, leaving much to the imagination, and little to explanation.”

The women hug and seem to silently agree to no glove touch.

Round one begins before she can get a good gulp of her vodka.

Gemma moves strangely, her hands are out in front of her like she’s trying to will Kara to move away from her, and it’s weird enough that it works. Kara throws some kicks that are stopped with Gemma’s tree trunk legs.

Kara ducks some wild throws that go unnaturally straight, her face betraying the confusion she’s feeling. Even with prep, there’s no _real_ way to prepare for Gemma.

Gemma gets a punch through Kara’s guard and dazes her into the gate. Kara dodges what might be considered a combination, and responds with a connecting jab to the head. Gemma shakes it off and rolls backward in time for the round to end.

For a few seconds, Kara stares at the spot that Gemma rolled from in the same shock that Lena is feeling.

The cameras go to Kara’s corner.

“J’onn, she moves like an alien.”

He just smiles like a patient father “We knew this Kara. You need to lead the dance, make her move to a normal pace, and you ruin her advantage.”

Gemma’s corner is quiet, not just quiet, dead silent. This isn’t the same woman she met at the marathon.

Round two begins with Kara making risky advancements. Kara with a mission, threading her way through a volley of flailing kicks and punches. Some hit her, few do anything but graze her. Kara shifts her whole body to avoid a two-fisted hammer that comes for her head, and gets Gemma into a headlock.

Kara pushes against Gemma’s legs and brings her to the ground with a strong choke. Kara is bulging with strain as she works on Gemma’s neck, and for the first time, Lena sees some kind of expression on Gemma’s face.

In some horrifying defiance of physics, Gemma escapes just before the clock runs out.

J’onn is looking at Kara with thinly veiled admiration “Those leg blocks she’s doing are hurting her more than she’s letting on. Go after her left leg and let her try and defend it. If she makes the only other decision she can and lifts her leg, lock her leg in and bend it until she taps.”

Kara spits out the water she’s been swishing, and nods.

Round three starts with a cracking leg kick from Kara. Gemma’s wince is almost unnoticeable, but it’s there. Kara bats some strange punches out of the air and kicks again, and kicks again, the thwack of leg on leg is making Lena want an ice pack of her own.

Then it happens, Gemma lifts her leg to avoid another of those crippling kicks, and Kara lifts her other leg mid flight and kicks into Gemma’s chest in an eye catching, acrobatic moment. Gemma goes down, and Kara scrambles to lock her leg in with only a minute to spare. Kara has her legs pinning Gemma down, and her arms shifting Gemma’s leg into something that looks ready to pop.

Thirty seconds, the time is trickling down, and Kara cranks harder on Gemma’s leg as her face and grip seem to beg her to tap.

Then it happens, Gemma taps, and the two women sprawl out onto the mat. J’onn lifts Kara up as her arm is raised in the air in victory by the ref.

Once she’s able, Kara goes to check on Gemma, ignoring Barney trying to chase her down for a post fight interview.

He finally snags her “Kara, how are you feeling after that?”

She leans into Barney “Tired Barney, very tired.”

“How did that fight feel?”

Kara looks to Gemma, who’s waving off the doctors like pests. “I’ve lost fights that took less out of me.”

“Any words for your fans?”

“I love your support, but while I’ve got the audience, there’s someone in there who owes me something that I expect to be payed back tonight.”

“That’s not very illuminating.” Barney frowns, at a loss for words almost as much as Lena is “What will be illuminating though, is whether James Olsen can keep his crown.” 

It would be too obvious to leave after what Kara said. The part of her that wants to suck Kara dry doesn’t seem to care much.

James Olsen and Manchester Black fight in a way that should be interesting. They’re both handsome, pleasant voices, great bodies, some good old beefcake on beefcake aggression. But when James launches Manchester into the ground and feeds him punches until the ref puts a stop to it, her mind is still in the gutters.

She lets the majority of people flood out, and she finds herself glad again for Lex’s lack of care for this part of things.

Kara isn’t in the audience, an unfortunate consequence of her heightened profile.

Her being in the most recent contacts isn’t terrible, Lena reasons.

“Kara. Where are you?”

“Staff exit. Naughty girl.”

_How does that work? She flirts like a high schooler_

Tingles of needed touch go up her back.

 _But_ s _he fucks like an expert_

Lena makes her way to the exit, walking with a wide stance to avoid the building friction between her legs. Kara looks at her with a confident smile, and Lena bites her lip to kill the frown coming on at seeing Kara’s developing black eye.

“What do you have for the best female fighter in the DEO?” Kara moves to her with just a hint of suggestion “My place or yours?”

Lena digs her car keys out of her purse and displays them with a grin “I brought a van.”

“You’re crazy.”

Lena nods and listens as Kara follows. 

Discovering what new noises Kara can make is more than worth driving here. She has Kara flat out in the spacious backseat, bruised hands clawing at fogged windows. A new layering of sweat is beading down Kara’s skin and dripping onto Lena’s hard-working hands. She moves to Kara’s chest and licks some of the salt off of her, relishing in the taste.

Kara lazily looks up, fascinated and questioning “Did you really?”

“I want to taste all of you.”

That does it, Kara is thrashing around in Lena’s backseat, juices soaking her fingers.

“You’re so fucking beautiful Kara.”

Some non committal moans are the only sign she has that she didn’t kill Kara with her fingers.

“Can I take a picture?”

“No nudity.” She mumbles into the car seat.

Lena hopes that will change soon, but this will more than do for now.

Her muscles are tense and there’s still an illustrative sweat on her body. Kara’s hands are out perfectly, weakly gripping the front seat for some kind of tether. Those blue eyes are staring out the fogged window, almost milky with what Lena has done to her. In the low light, the forming bruise is almost invisible. Lena positions herself and takes a few pictures, satisfied with the third snap of her camera.

“And?”

Lena puts the camera away and slides into the warmth she’s been deprived of for less than a day, but what feels like a week “You make photography easy.”

She wakes up in Kara’s hold, they both stir awake at the same time, the weather not letting them risk scandal. Kara plays with her hair “We should probably go somewhere.”

“Can I stay overnight?” Lena asks, having the scary epiphany that she prefers Kara’s home to her own.

“I need to leave early for Alex’s bachelorette weekend, but, yes you can.”

This gets her out of her stupor “But, the Autumn break is starting soon.”

“Aw.” Kara cups Lena’s jaw and peppers some kisses over her face “Going to miss me?”

“How often will you be in National City?”

“Maybe once a month. Star City is a bit of trek.”

Lena sighs in frustration, once a month is _not_ enough,

..

Only eight days since they’ve last seen each other, but eleven _excruciating_ days since her and Kara last had sex.

Lucy is in town, and a dinner with her to catch up seems like it will keep her from doing anything stupid. But with Lucy in the washroom, stupid may get to win.

She’s brimming with energy, and with Lucy occupied… She looks and sees that the restaurant is mostly empty, majority of them probably at the baseball game.

Lena calls in a desperate Hail Mary. “Kara, you’re going to be gone two months for training, this isn’t fair.”

Kara is chatting with Alex, then there’s the sound of a door opening, and the light wind of the outside mingling with Kara’s voice “Lena. We aren’t dating, I have my own life. You have to be patient, or find someone else to satisfy you while I’m gone.”

She can, and she has, but like with James and Kyle, random people don’t do it for her right now. Lena sighs “If you change your mind, you have my number.”

Lucy comes back from the washroom, and Lena puts the face back on of someone who didn’t just beg for sex.

“More wine?”

Lucy laughs and reveals the bottle behind her back.

That she managed to get that expensive of one without reserving it first “They really like you here.”

Lucy sits and starts to pour for the both of them “I’m a regular, don’t you know?”

“All too well.” She remembers helping Lucy and Thea stumble out ‘ _We’re a regulars ya know?_ ’

The candlelight hits Lucy in a way that Lena wants to capture.

“Do you mind?” Lena is already digging her camera out.

Lucy continues drinking, knowing that Lena wants something at least artificially candid.

The lighting comes in to give her skin a healthier look than it deserves, a smile playing at her lips, and her hair falling in nice braids. “I think you have a new Tinder picture.”

Lucy finishes her glass “Like I need Tinder.”

Lena puts the camera away after taking a purposefully unflattering picture, not wanting to feed into Lucy’s vanity too much. “Ms. Lane, tell me how Metropolis is treating you.”

“This guy Clark that Lois works with, holy shit Lena, he might be one of the hottest dudes I’ve even met.”

“What’s the scoop here? New crush?”

Lucy pours herself another glass “Nope. Well yes, but he seems to only have eyes for my sister, who’s blind to him.”

Lena finally takes a drink of her own wine, not really in the mood to get trashed tonight.

“The military contract has me potentially coming back here for a while.”

This calls for celebration. Lena takes a gulp of her drink “That’s what I like to hear. What changed?”

“Well,” Lucy looks at her with a devious smile “I may have poached someone’s job.”

“You’re so cutthroat.”

“I’m a woman in the military.”

And that’s explanation enough. Lena toasts her and takes a nice drink for herself.

..

They’ve made it to a firework show. Lena looks and sees Lucy not even flinch when the loud flares of light pass in front of them.

“Lucy, you’ve made it so far.”

Lucy takes a sip of her bagged drink “Independence Day still sucks, but I just hide in the basement and freak out with my dog.”

The image of Lucy huddled up with her dog is as sad as it is adorable. “You can always call me.”

Lucy watches the dance of a particularly intricate spray of colour “I need to deal with some things by myself.”

“I know.” She squeezes Lucy’s hand “I’m just saying you don’t need to.”

The light show is winding down, and Lucy excuses herself to a nearby outside washroom “If my dad could see me now.” She laughs with some malice and runs off.

Lena enjoys the glow of red and orange on the street in front of her, trying to store this moment with Lucy away for when she inevitably leaves back to Metropolis.

A buzz sounds off in her pocket. Without checking it, she rejects the call. Another buzz sounds off, and she has to check, because who in their right mind would leave a voicemail?

**Kara Danvers**

This she has to check.

“Heyyy Lena,” She’s drunk, maybe as drunk as Lena “Uh, so, I changed my mind, I don’t want you to find someone else to… you know. Come here, now. I’m going to be up for like two more hours, so get over here. I’m at the Hilton Wilmington, room…” There’s some movement on the other end “502. Come get it.” Kara laughs, and the message ends.

Lucy is back as Lena feels some unnatural warmth distract her from the cold.

“What’s up?”

“Want to split that cab back to Metropolis?”

..

This is definitely one of the weirder things she’s done for sex.

She’s gotten a room on Kara’s floor. She double checks her room number, _519_. Checking in with only a half-filled purse and an obvious smell of alcohol. No big deal.

In the elevator ride up, she tries not to psych herself out. A scenario where Kara has changed her mind, was joking.

No. The reflection in these, _weirdly_ well-maintained elevator mirrors, is one of a drop dead gorgeous woman who will get this professional athlete to bother their neighbours with noise.

She gets out of the elevator with a purposeful stride and stops outside Kara’s room, then knocks.

It takes a moment, but then the door opens, and Kara’s look isn’t one of confusion, it’s awe. “You came.” It comes out as an excited whisper.

Lena stares up at her, letting their eyes mingle. “Take that nice dress off before I ruin it.”

Kara brings her in with one hand and starts to slip out of her dress with the other. “Lena,” She grabs Lena’s ponytail and tilts her head back so she can devour her neck “This is such a bad idea.”

Lena drops her jacket and purse to the floor “The best bad idea you’ve ever had.”

They leave a trail of clothes as they work to Kara’s bed. Then Lena’s legs are on Kara’s shoulders, and pillows are making what should be uncomfortable, heavenly.

“Oh god, Kara.”

With how good Kara is what that tongue, Lena has half an idea that she may have died, and this is her own heaven.

When she’s recovered enough to move, she uses both of her hands to feel inside of Kara, cataloguing each noise for when she has to wait too long again. Kara’s legs kick out as she shatters in Lena’s touch.

She greedily drinks up what she can from Kara’s shaking body, sucking at what needs to be left alone. Kara pushes her away, and Lena, drunk on sex and wine, stumbles to her purse and grabs her camera. Kara has already covered herself with a sheet that covers just enough to be suggestive.

Once she has the right framing, she takes a few confident pictures, getting to see a spent and content Kara in a mess of sheets. These pictures paint a clear picture of what they’ve done, and she’s going to sorely miss them when she eventually has to be rid of them.

Burning the pictures of James was probably the saddest part of them ending things, which makes her feel a little heartless.

Then Kara’s blue eyes look up at her like she’s amazing “You didn’t wear your contact lens.”

Lena almost drops the camera as her hand goes for the exposed abnormality “Yeah. Do you mind?”

Kara laughs “I’m sorry, it’s just,” She pauses to laugh again, and even with those abs working, Lena can’t stop the embarrassment taking hold “You look even hotter. Why do you try and cover that up all the time?”

She takes a picture of Kara with the sheets marking her in an artful silhouette, stalling for time, but still getting a nice picture out of it. “My mother wasn’t very nice about my eyes being different colours.”

“Green and blue is cool as heck, and you can barely notice. Your mom sounds like a jerk.”

Lena puts her camera down and comes back to the bed, bizarrely turned on by the casual words of support.

..

There’s a loud banging on the door.

“KARA! YOU’RE GOING TO MISS BREAKFAST!”

The pair share a look of panic.

Kara throws a shirt and underwear on and answers the door while Lena half hides under the sheets.

Alex’s voice is way too cheerful for, Lena turns, _eight in the fucking morning_. “Come on sleepy, I know you want that complimentary breakfast.”

“Yes, just give me a second, I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

There’s a second where Lena hopes that will be the end of it. “Hold on, that’s not your shirt.”

Lena looks at the floor and sees her shirt is definitely not there.

“And I can hear someone in there. Hello in there, mystery person my sister had sex with, would you like to get breakfast?”

“Oh my gosh Alex, let her sleep.”

“Welp, I’m satisfied now that I know it’s a girl. Come down for breakfast whenever.”

The lock on the door clicks into place. “I’m sorry about that.”

Kara is wearing Lena’s shirt, and it’s much too tight on her. “Make it up to me by keeping that shirt on.”

Kara loosens a few buttons near the bottom. “More than happy to.”

Kara’s sheets are a tangled and marked mess by the end of it.

“Do you want me to bring you food?” Kara asks, already much too put together. 

“Yes,” She rolls herself deeper into the sheets “But then I should go.”

Lena lays in the sheets that might need to be washed twice now, still feeling the ghost of touch over her sizzling skin. She shakes a little with the way that Kara made her feel and allows herself to fall back asleep.

“Even _you_ don’t eat that much. Good for you, feeding the girl before you try and sneak her out.”

“Shut up Alex.” Then Kara is in the room with a piled plate of food.

Lena sits up, and the sheet falls, letting cold air hit her exposed chest.

Kara grins at the sight.

“We’ve had sex how many times? And you’re still like a horny teenager when you see my tits.”

“Don’t be so crass.”

“How do you fuck me like an animal and then turn around and act like a girl scout?” Lena takes the food that’s offered and shovels it into her mouth at almost the same rate that Kara usually would.

“I’ve never seen you eat like that.”

Lena grins through a mouthful.

“Food at least.” Kara sits beside her, smiling at the display of hunger.

Once she’s finished, she half asses getting rid of the crumbs.

Kara stops her hand “The maids can handle that.”

“I’m just trying to make the job a little easier.”

Kara scrunches her nose and kisses Lena “You’re sweet.” She puts a lock of hair behind Lena’s ear “I need you to sneak out now.”

“Am I your dirty little secret?”

“Yup.” Kara throws Lena’s clothes her way, watching her dress with interest.

Kara gives her one last chaste kiss as she goes.

Lena looks down the hallway to where her room is, laughing to herself. Then she hears Alex’s voice coming down the hallway. The only way to go is back, or to… _fuck it_.

Lena goes down the emergency stairwell, and for a brief moment, all is well.

The fire alarm goes off, and Lena turns her speed walk into a sprint.

She gets out onto the street and looks back in shame at the people piling out onto the sidewalk.

Her phone buzzes in her pocket.

**Kara: _was that you?_**

Lena hails a cab and takes special care to make small talk instead of looking at her phone.

..

Lucy lets her crash at her place.

“I have literally never had anyone use the guestroom in this place, please sleep in my house.”

Lena laughs “So, I’m really doing you the favour.”

Lucy guides her to the guestroom, the bare walls making Lena think of her childhood in a not too fond way “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Lena drops her purse on the bed and realizes how stupid this impromptu road trip booty call really was “I need clothes.”

“How long are you staying?” Lucy flops onto the bed “I really need to paint in here.”

“Do I sound like a total simp if I say only as long as Kara is here?”

Lucy looks up at her, dumbfounded “Yes.”

“Well then call me a simp.”

“Okay.” Lucy giggles “Simp.”

Lena soon falls into a nap.

She wakes to Lucy jumping on the bed “It’s been half an hour and I need to get some quality Lena time.”

“Christ. Okay.”

‘Quality Lena time’ consists of getting an afternoon drink.

“Do you ever worry that we drink too much?”

Lucy wipes some beer foam from her mouth “Not really, plus we’re seeing a movie after, so it’s more like a date.”

“I suppose that’s fair.”

“Plus, it’s what your twenties are for.”

Lena nearly spits her drink out “How does that joke still work on me?”

“Probably because we’ve only not been in our twenties for a year.”

“Don’t remind me.” Lena chugs the rest of her drink and excuses herself to the washroom.

When she’s finished, she sees a missed call from her favourite new distraction.

Without the shame she should have, she instantly calls back.

“Lena.” Her name is said with such excitement.

“Kara.” She pauses to look at herself in the washroom mirror, hot and a bit of a mess, but not quite a hot mess. “You called?”

“Yeah,” There’s a hint of embarrassment in her voice “I was hoping you were still in Metropolis.”

“I might be. Not looking for the same amount of drama with my sleeping arrangement.”

“To be fair.” Kara’s voice sounds farther away “You set off the fire alarm, so we’re pretty even on that front.”

Lena smiles in the mirror, imagining Kara trying to stifle a laugh while waiting on the fire department.

“I’m free after nine. Do you have a place you’re staying at?”

“What for?” Lena teases.

The voice that answers is the one that Lena gets behind closed doors “I want to make you scream.”

A chill runs down her back “I’ll send you the address.”

She comes out of the washroom a lot more sober than she walked in.

Lucy is sporting a frown.

“What’s up?” 

Lucy is chewing her lip “I have to skip out after the movie, some stupid family meeting.”

“That makes what I’m going to ask a lot less shitty.” She hopes. 

Lucy has a knowing smile on her face as Lena sits “Ask away, though I think I know what the question is.”

“Well,” Lena wrings her hands “I was wondering if I could have my new lady friend over around nine.”

“As long as she’s out by twelve, we’re golden.”

“Really?”

Lucy rolls her eyes “She got me an extra two days with you, I already like the girl.”

The movie is fantastic.

Lucy is clutching onto Lena’s coat jacket as they emerge into the darkness of the theatre parking lot.

“You okay?”

“How did they make an invisible guy so horrifying?”

Lena laughs and points to one of the towering posters “The movie is literally called ‘The Invisible Man.’ How are you surprised?”

Lucy clutches tightly regardless as Lena walks her to her car.

Lucy unlocks her car door and checks in the backseat “Wish me luck?”

“Good luck, and,” Lena takes in a breath of the cold air “Thank you.”

Lucy peels away, already a little late.

Lena calls a cab and sees that she’s going to show up at the same time as Kara. She may or may not tip an extra twenty for the cabbie to speed.

Kara is waiting outside the house when Lena pulls in. Kara hasn’t quite noticed her yet, so as Lena gets out of the cab, she gets her camera ready. The look of quiet wonder on Kara’s face as she looks at the stars needs to be preserved.

She whispers a thank you to the cab driver and takes a few stunning shots of Kara’s wonderstruck face.

Then the wonderstruck face turns to one of barely subdued tears.

She puts the camera back in her purse “Kara?”

Kara wipes at some of the half-formed tears “Lena!”

She hugs Kara back, and then holds her at arms length “Are you okay?”

Kara laughs in something resembling genuine “You saw that then?”

Lena nods.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about how me and Mon-El would stargaze together all the time.”

Lena brings her into the house “We don’t have to, you know.”

Kara starts to unbutton her shirt “I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.”

Lena is putty in her hands “And, what do you want to do?”

Kara smiles “Bring me to your bed and you’ll find out.”

There’s a moment or two where it’s clear that Kara isn’t fully there, but the sex is still as mind blowing as ever.

Kara is heaving for breath on top of her, working Lena’s body for every orgasm she can get from her.

Lena finally finds words “Oh my god.”

“I want you to yell.”

Lena locks eyes with the woman who’s working her into another frenzy “Make me.”

Kara’s thumb rubs in just the right way.

“KARA!”

The look of satisfaction on her face makes it even more overwhelming.

“Kara, tha-“ Her body moves in waves as Kara continues her relentless fingering. “If you keep going I don’t know if I’ll be able to walk.”

She stares down at Lena with a hard gaze “Good.”

..

Every one of Kara’s post sex kisses make Lena twitch in place, not able and not wanting to stop her. “How are you so good at this?”

Kara bites her ear, and she can feel her body getting ready for a potentially deadly fifth round. “Takes two to make art.”

Lena watches Kara stand and go for the camera.

“Do you mind?” 

Lena waves her on, excited to see where this will go.

Kara smiles behind the camera and snaps a few pictures “This is pretty erotic. I get why you’re so into it.”

She puts the camera back and kisses Lena’s tensed chest, making her sigh in pleasure.

Kara makes a face “Can you send me those if they turn out good?”

“Only if you get rid of them when we stop doing this.”

Kara blows air into her face “I’m not a hypocrite Lena.”

Kara has her clothes on, and Lena is still locked in place on the bed “When can I see you again?” Lena cringes internally at the desperate nature of the question.

“Well,” Kara hops into her jeans with a satisfying jiggle “I have all the training stuff for the Maggie Sawyer fight, but they’re bringing you down to get some footage for the female empowerment doc.”

“They are?”

“Emailed me yesterday that you’re going to be in Star City with me for a few days.”

Lena smiles “I actually have some venues I need to negotiate in Star City.”

Kara looks down at her still trembling body with amusement “You still won’t get to see me every night.”

She shrugs away her disappointment “I’m a popular woman, I can amuse myself.”

“As long as you’re not _amusing_ yourself with other people.”

Lena feels some misplaced guilt at the fact that she’s been doing just that “Sure.”

..

Lucy is sad to see her go, but promises they’ll see each other more often in the future.

..

Lena crashes onto her bed at home and looks through some of the pictures she took. A lot of them are worth developing. She hesitates on the ones that Kara took. They’re actually pretty good, the sheets are over her in an inviting way, one that begs for them to be removed.

She sighs to herself and goes into her dark room, deciding on developing all of the pictures, and laughing at the terrible one of Lucy.

Star City actually does have some business for her, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t chasing her new fuck buddy from city to city.

The nagging question comes back to her though.

 _How long until I get bored of her too?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This whole chapter is just a thirst fest. Expect more plot next Sunday

The training camp for the Maggie Sawyer fight is intensive. And the drive was, well she slept the whole way, but it wasn’t comfortable.

Lena walks into the huge gym with the camera crew tailing, and is greeted by a cheerful Barry Allen.

“Lena Luthor, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

She smiles at the mix of formal and friendly “I’m here for the Kara Danvers doc.”

“That explains the cameras.”

He leads her through a maze of workout rooms and to the woman she has to act casual around.

“Lena!” Kara grabs her and hugs her tightly “It’s so good to see a friendly face that doesn’t want me to workout.”

“Kara.” She tries to sound friendly, just friendly, not focused on the way that her feet are half a foot off the ground. “Ready for some totally unscripted training footage?”

“Yup. Oh hey,” Kara leans in to whisper, and Lena gets ready for something sexual “Me, Barry, and J’onn are grabbing steak after this at Morton’s.”

“And?” Lena can’t deny she’s a little disappointed that Kara didn’t say something sexual.

“I’m inviting you.”

It is something friends would do, and she would like to have some normal outings with Kara if they plan to keep this on the low. “I’d love to.”

“Awesome,” Kara steps back “Want to see me punch or kick stuff first?”

Both seems to be the answer, as Kara does a spinning kick to show off and follows it up with abusive punches on the heavy bag. “That look good?”

Lena hopes the camera doesn’t fully catch her leering stare. “Ye- yes.”

Kara smiles at the camera “I think I’m scaring my boss.”

The camera crew laugh, and Kara winks at Lena, knowing that the look on her face isn’t fear.

Mxy approaches her as they film some footage of Kara and J’onn talking training regiment. “Ms. Luthor, do you have a second?”

She nods.

“Mind getting some bonding moments with Kara? The test footage we’ve been showing has people responding really well to your friendship.”

She laughs in his face, then mentally scrambles for a reasonable explanation as he frowns. “Sorry Mxy, but doesn’t that sound really manufactured?”

“I mean, yes I suppose. You could talk about her meet and greets at children’s hospitals.”

“I didn’t know she was doing that.”

“Everyone has a camera now.” Mxy taps his phone.

“You bring it up, and I’ll pump her for something sentimental.”

J’onn pats Kara’s shoulder and walks off.

Mxy coughs “Kara, can you talk about your charity work at children’s hospitals?”

This might be the biggest smile she’s ever seen Kara sport “Well, I first want to say, good job stalker.”

Mxy feigns offence.

“But, it’s just the right thing to do, and I had some free time. And…” The smiles breaks for a brief moment “You might want to cut this section.”

There’s a palpable tension in the room “I had depressive episodes after the Zor-Els died, and… I eventually had to be hospitalized. Cat Grant of CatCo showed up and made me laugh for the first time in ages, she’d probably hate that I’m telling you guys, but she visited every month.” Kara looks off into the distance affectionately “That big softie.”

It would have to be a very cruel world for them to cut that out.

Lena takes Kara into a hug that she sinks into “You’re brave for sharing that.”

Kara sighs against her “Mental health, am I right?”

She has no idea what that’s supposed to mean, but she figures any rational sentences are hard after that.

..

She elects to get to Morton’s on her own. Barry is waiting outside, a wide smile on his face as he greets her.

“Lena, it’s nice to actually talk to you for once.”

She cocks her head “We’ve met a few times, through Lex, but we have met.”

He goes inside and then circles back “Follow me.” He fist bumps the doorman and slips him a ten “I meant more that we’ve never really hung out. Kara seems to think you’re cool, so the bar is set.”

“Kara talk about me a lot?”

“Not really, just mentioned you’re a lot nicer than Lex, and that with you we don’t have to stress about what we say because you just do the marketing and venue side.”

“I’m not really a people person.”

He shrugs “Opposites attract I suppose.”

_Do they ever_

Kara and J’onn are already waiting for them, huddled and serious in their booth.

“Yo, dream team. No work talk allowed.” Barry slides in opposite to J’onn, leaving Lena with an unbreaking line of sight with Kara.

Lena sits down and gives a somewhat practiced smile to Kara, already regretting this in a small part “Thank you for inviting me.”

Kara nudges J’onn “She looks like she’d rather be getting surgery.” Kara nudges Lena’s foot with her own “It’s okay, we’re all friends here.”

It’s strangely comforting when Barry gives her a ridiculous thumbs up.

J’onn turns to her with a warm smile “How are you liking Star City, have you been here before?”

“Two of my friends are from here actually.”

“Yeah?” Barry looks excited.

“Um, yeah, Thea and Felicity, you probably don’t-“

Barry looks ready to run around the room “Those aren’t common names, do you mean Thea Queen and Felicity Smoak?”

Lena quirks an eyebrow “No shit. You know them?”

“Well Thea, through Oliver, and Felicity yeah, we hang out a decent amount. She’s close with Iris too, well after Iris got over that whole shared proposal thing.”

Kara groans “If I have to hear about that shared proposal one more time, I’m going to lose my mind.”

A waitress shows up, apparently saving Kara. “What can I grab for you all today?”

Kara snaps her attention to the waitress “Prime Cajun ribeye with asparagus please.” She looks to J’onn for approval, and he nods.

Lena does a quick scan of the menu “The crab legs please.”

J’onn orders a burger, and Barry winks at Lena before getting a double order of their largest filet mignon.

Lena stares at him and Kara “How the hell do you two pack away so much food?”

Kara flexes “This body needs fuel.”

The flex is cute _and_ hot, which is just bullshit as far as Lena is concerned.

Barry shrugs “I do a lot of cardio.”

“So,” J’onn turns to Lena “How do you know Felicity and Thea?”

“Well, me and Thea met at a bar with my friend Lucy, when me and Lucy lived together in National City.”

“Figures.” Barry laughs.

“And then me and Felicity met in the audience at a fight, she accidentally sat in the wrong seat for one of Oliver’s fights, and we just hit it off. Lex thought we were flirting so he was surprisingly not pissy about his seat being taken.”

“Small world.” Barry smiles to himself, then slaps the table “Wait, so do you know Oliver?”

“I’ve had dinner with him a few times, but I’d say I know Felicity more.”

Barry looks off dreamily “Oliver is awesome.”

Kara laughs “Your crush on him is worse than mine was.”

Lena looks at her with confusion.

“What? He’s hot.”

“Don’t let Felicity hear you saying that.” Lena eyes Kara as she says it, surprised by her taste in guys.

“I’m only admiring,” Kara tosses a napkin Lena’s way “I won’t touch anyone who’s married.”

Lena picks the napkin out of the air “I meant more that Felicity is the jealous type.”

J’onn looks between the two of them “You two are fast friends.”

“Well how could we not be?” Kara kicks Lena under the table “I’m so likeable.”

She can be smooth when she wants to be.

The waitress comes back with a cart of steaming food, making Kara and Barry get concerningly close to drooling.

The food is great, maybe not Kara level, but she knows that her opinion of that is clouded by other things.

Kara and Barry argue with J’onn about desert, and he allows them the Crème Brulee because it’s low in calories.

Kara gets up suddenly. “Barry, you order, I know that’s going to take a while,” She grabs Lena’s hand and pulls her up “We need some lady time.”

Lena follows her lead with a stunned expression, the brazenness is worrying. Once they’re in the washroom, Lena stamps a foot “Kara, what the hell happened to being subtle?”

Kara waves off her concerns and checks herself over in the mirror “Do you not do that with your friends that are girls? Bring them to the washroom and hang out?”

The wind out of her sails, Lena gives herself a once over “I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up.”

Kara puts a hand on her shoulder “Hey, me neither.” She makes a face of consideration “Unless you count old potheads.”

Lena laughs at the image. “How about you and Nia? You do this a lot?”

“Yeah. I don’t get to see her as much as I’d like.”

“Why?”

Kara makes some weird faces in the mirror, maybe hyping herself up in her own Kara way. “Reporters with sleep disorders are hard to make time for.” Kara sighs “You really seem like a good friend.”

Lena shrugs, unable to take compliments like this, especially from people who she has good sex with “I try.”

Kara plucks an eyelash off of Lena’s cheek and blows it away “Alright. I think the desert is ready.”

“You really didn’t bring me in here to have sex?”

“No.” Kara snorts “Why do you sound disappointed?”

A little chuffed, Lena leaves before Kara can catch on to just how disappointed she is.

J’onn watches Kara and Barry eat with thinly veiled amusement, the extra affection in his eyes when Kara has to catch a falling piece, his mouth curving into a smile that he can’t fight.

When Kara looks up at him with a wide smile of love, she gets it. Kara’s father might be a deadbeat, but J’onn is her dad, and he’s great.

They finish, and Barry insists on paying the ridiculous bill.

Lex pays his wages, so Lena sneaks away and asks them to pretend that it’s on the house for Barry being there.

When Lena sees the bill with her own bank account in mind, she realizes she doesn’t even need to pull out one of the more ridiculous cards, and leaves a generous tip for them humouring her.

She comes back to the table with a smile.

Kara taps the table to get her attention “What’s got you so-“

“Barry Allen?” The waiter is back, Barry looks up with a confused smile “The chef has covered the cost of your meal. He wants to thank you for dining with us.”

“Oh, wow.” Barry shakes his hand “Thank you so much. Can you pass on my thanks to him as well? I’d stay and talk to him, but Iris needs me.”

“So soon?” Kara stands with him.

“Yeah, sorry, I’ll see you tomorrow for training.” He hugs Kara and J’onn quickly, hesitates, and then takes Lena into a hug of her own. “You seem cool.”

Barry runs out frighteningly quick and J’onn whistles after him “I have no idea why he didn’t go into sprinting. He’s like the white Usain Bolt.”

Kara shakes her head “Bolt wishes.”

They go out onto the street, and J’onn hugs Kara tightly and gives a polite goodbye to Lena before driving away.

Kara looks around and then kisses Lena on the cheek. “Where are you staying?”

“With a friend actually, turns out I got better at making those once I got older.”

Kara raises her eyebrows suggestively at Lena as she hails a cab. “Well, I’m not staying with anyone.”

Lena takes the cab with her, figuring that Felicity will forgive her. Not like she can say no to this kind of offer either way.

Kara’s hand is tense against her thigh the whole time. It feels weirdly like a date.

Then Kara is fingering her in the elevator up to her hotel room, and her mind is somewhere else.

Kara doesn’t have the same trouble Lena had with opening her hotel room door, the second the door is half closed, she’s working Lena’s neck with vampire like suction.

“I swear,” Kara breaks the contact for a moment “I’m not trying to leave a hickey.”

Lena makes a whining noise, and then Kara’s mouth goes back.

With clothes flying off, and Lena finding her way into Kara’s pants, they fall into bed.

It’s just sensations, she can’t find it in herself to open her eyes

“Kara. Just like that.” It becomes begging “Please, don’t stop.” She can feel herself getting closer “Kiss me.”

She comes apart and gasps for breath, her tongue going stiff in Kara’s mouth.

Kara kisses her body gently through the aftershock then asks if she’s ready for more.

She can only hum a yes, which means the true answer is probably no.

Kara flips her over and presses a kiss to her back before putting a hand to her shoulder and another to cup her overworked centre. “You look so good under me like this.”

Lena is squirming against the strong hold, never in her life has she been dominated like this, and she wonders how she’ll _ever_ get bored of this. A finger curls inside of her and complicated thoughts are gone.

..

She’s finally able to open her eyes once she’s given half of what she’s received. “I. Fuck, Kara.”

Kara is breathless beside her “Is it just me, or are we getting better at this?”

“Somehow. I think we are.”

Without really meaning to, she falls asleep curled up with Kara. She blames it on how good at cuddling she is.

She wakes to breakfast and a note.

**_Had to get to training. This isn’t quite as good as my cooking :)_ **

Lena sits up in the bed and is about to eat, when she looks at the image before her, the beautiful scrawl of the writing, the positioning of the food. Being careful not to shift her weight too much, she grabs her camera and snaps a picture that somewhat includes her legs. It won’t win any awards, but it has palpable emotion, care went into this.

Lena dresses and goes to snatch the note, stops herself, goes again, groans, and then pockets it.

..

Time to negotiate with the Rockets Arena and see if they can handle the amount of people they usually draw.

Or, if she’s being honest, find something to do while she waits for tonight. It’s embarrassing that she’s only now getting their Star City contracts in line, and her excuse is really good sex with one of her -kind of- employees.

She looks down at herself and decides changing first is probably a good idea, not exactly walk of shame level of wear and tear, but not ‘business woman’ either.

With a lot less drama than last time, she gets out of the hotel and hails a cab to Felicity’s house. Star City shows its good and bad in equal turn as the driver takes her to the suburbs she’s calling home for the next month.

She knocks on the door, and Oliver answers, shirtless and sweating, with Roy not far behind him. Roy, she can see the appeal of, Oliver, not as much. Though, Kara is entitled to her opinion.

Felicity barrels past them “Lena thank god. They’ve been sparring all day, take me to do something.”

Lena thinks “If you let me change, and are willing to pretend to be someone you’re not, then you’ve got a deal.”

Felicity dramatically shakes her hand “You strike a very reasonable bargain.”

Lena smiles at the two shirtless men and makes her way to the guestroom. Once inside, she shoots a text to Thea, letting her know that her ‘not boyfriend’ is looking particularly fit today.

Just as she gets her clothes from the night before off, her phone is buzzing. As she gets her dress pants on, she answers without looking.

“Thea Queen. I knew you were interested in the boy, but this is excessive.”

“Uh, no.” _Kara’s_ voice answers.

Lena almost drops her phone “Kara. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I got back to the hotel and saw that you left your camera in my room. Doesn’t seem inten-“

“Is it okay?” Lena checks her purse in a blur of anxiety “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Lena,” A calming tone reaches out to her “It’s fine, your camera is here, and so far, I’ve resisted the urge to take pictures. Untouched.”

She deflates and looks herself over in the mirror, this may actually be a walk of shame.

..

Only when her and Felicity are halfway into downtown does she work up the courage to say anything. “Do you mind if I don’t come home again tonight?”

Felicity spares her a glance before looking back to the road she’s speeding them down. “You have a new special someone, don’t you?”

“You know me too well.” Lena adjusts her suit jacket in anxiousness “Also, she’s not a _special_ someone.”

“Ah, so it’s a girl this time.”

“She’s too young for me anyways.” Lena adds, without really knowing why.

Felicity takes them through a particularly winding turn “How old is she?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Cool, you’re both consenting adults, right?”

“Well yes, but-“

“But what? If you want to date her, you should.”

“I don’t want to date her though.”

“That stuff with Jack doesn’t have to ruin dating for you forever. There’s going to be other people that get you like he did. This girl doesn’t have to be _it_ for you, but give someone a shot.”

Lena looks up and sees exactly what she was hoping for, a way out of this conversation. “And there it is.”

Rockets Arena is bearing down on them, she hopes the asshole always causing her issues in Star City with his stranglehold on the properties isn’t here today.

She sighs. The asshole in question is waiting for them in the parking lot.

Lena turns to Felicity “I’m sorry, this is going to get ugly. He definitely knows who you are, so just be regular tech genius Felicity for this one please.”

“Seeing you guys bite each other’s heads off is infinitely better than listening to Oliver tell Roy that he’s failing our city.”

“That’s such a harsh coaching tactic.”

Felicity parks the car and gets out, apparently preferring the spectacle of Lena and Morgan’s year long feud to the topic of criticizing her husband.

Lena takes what will probably be a fruitless calming breath, and follows Felicity to her quarterly death match. “Morgan Edge, what a displeasure to see you.”

He smiles that cocky smile “Lena Luthor, I can already tell you that we’re not selling the venue, or the rights to use this venue to the DEO.”

“Majority stakeholder doesn’t mean god,” Lena walks past him and into the building “The owner of the arena gets to decide what’s going to be done here.”

She surrenders her purse to security, walks through the scanner and allows them to pass the wand over her. Felicity follows with obvious amusement.

Morgan looks at Felicity with a healthy dose of fear “What the hell is she doing here?”

Lena continues walking to where the owner is going to be “Why did I bring one of the best tech security consultants in the country to help me look at this potential new property? What a novel question Morgan, did you come up with it all by yourself?”

The man she actually wants to see is watching them with amusement. “Mr. Edge, I don’t appreciate you coming here uninvited.”

Morgan stops, and it’s no wonder, Ricardo Diaz has a very commanding voice.

“I was just trying to protect your interests.”

“You can leave now.”

Morgan sulks off, muttering things that he wouldn’t repeat to Ricardo’s face.

“Ricardo, it is such a pleasure to meet you in person.” She shakes his hand and gets an expectedly firm one in return.

“Likewise, Lena.” He starts to walk them around the stadium “I respect your time and I hope that you have respect for mine.”

“I do.”

“Then let’s cut through the tug of war where we pretend to care about each others day and you tell me how you’re going to respect my arena, and you give me your price point.” 

Lena stops and looks the place over one more time, it’s exactly the legitimacy they need, not to mention the added benefit of running their own ads here when other sports are renting from them. “Everything here is talk, and nothing is official until we shake on it and have contracts signed.”

He nods.

“We’re prepared to offer one hundred and fifty million along with giving you and whoever on the board decides to part, a healthy benefits package that will come to its own negotiation.” She’s slightly low balling the price point.

“Make that one fifty-five, and you have a deal.”

That’s still less than she planned on spending on this “I want to say this handshake is one of respect and goodbye, not of a deal set in stone.”

He nods and shakes her hand. “Have a good day Lena.”

“Same to you Ricardo.”

Felicity has a dumbfounded look on her face as Lena walks them back out to the parking lot. Felicity drives them around town in circles. They’re at a stop light when Lena finally gives in. 

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!”

“Meshugana lady.”

“I know some Yiddish, don’t call me crazy.”

Felicity looks both ways -cautious as ever- and sets them off to the next venue. “Explain why you’re yelling.”

“Well first,” Lena taps the dash with energy “That was a fifteen-million-dollar low ball, and he took it. And second, I just got to stick it to Morgan Edge in what _used_ to be his own damn stadium.”

“You excited for the next one then?” 

Lena leans back into her chair “Nope. This is making sure that the people running this place aren’t screwing around with our money, and they almost definitely are.”

_Oh shit_

Lena tries to meet her eye in the rear-view mirror “I forgot to tell you that a camera crew is going to be there. I’m sorry, you can just drop me off and I can walk the rest of the way.” Her mind races for how to give Felicity something else to do, maybe her friend Curtis isn’t busy with his husband.

Felicity stops the car and puts a reassuring hand to her shoulder “You hang out with me at work all the time, this is just some fluff piece stuff, right?”

“Well, yeah, I just figured with all of the paparazzi on your ass day in and out…” 

“This is nice paparazzi, and I can use our friendship to make them omit things that make me look bad.”

“That’s the Felicity I know and love.” She’s laughing at her friend’s ego when she sees a giant sign on the front of the building that takes her breath away.

Felicity whistles “Wow, Lex is really pushing for this Kara girl to be the draw for women.”

Even though she put it together, seeing Kara in such large high-definition glory… it’s a lot.

Kara is standing with her hands on her hips, arms and abs barely even touched up to look nicer, and still looking too good to be true. She has an intense gaze, the one that’s reserved for fighting, and for Lena.

Maggie looks pretty good too.

Felicity parks them and whistles “Honestly, that Kara girl is plain hot. No wonder he wants her to be the face of the sport. Definitely better than no emotion _Reign_ ing champion.”

“What?” Lena asks, dumbfounded on a few levels.

Felicity gets out and holds her door open for a moment, “I’m straight, not blind.” And slams it.

Lena follows with a smile, Felicity’s dramatic nature a welcome distraction from the fact that her bed buddy is Lex’s new favourite fighter, and the complications that come with how much more recognizable Kara’s becoming.

This venue lets them in without a fuss, a bit of a weird look at Felicity, but nothing more.

Mxy is waiting for them with cameras “Hope you don’t mind us popping in.”

“Oh yes, because it’s totally unexpected.” Felicity responds with a snarky tone.

Lena shoves her lightly “It’s absolutely fine Mxy, I just have to look and make sure everything is being effectively used here, and that we’re prepared for the upcoming fight.”

The washroom door behind Mxy opens “Is she here yet? I want to make a dramatic entrance.”

“Kara?”

Kara waves at Lena “I guess I blew it.”

Felicity giggles “Worked for me.”

Kara weaves past the camera crew “Felicity? Lena has mentioned you, it’s nice to meet you.”

“She has?”

Kara looks surprised “I guess our friendship is a little more one sided than I thought,” Kara kicks Lena’s foot “Yeah, we grabbed steak last night.”

Felicity looks dangerously close to piecing something together.

Kara continues, unaware “With Barry Allen of all people, can you believe that they’re friends?”

“Barry! Me and Oliver haven’t seen him in so long. How is he?”

This seems to prevent any of Felicity’s intelligence from digging further into this, so Lena leads them on a walk to assist in it staying that way.

The two of them catch up on their mutual friend as Lena combats some questions from Mxy.

“Your role in the DEO is something a lot of people want to know more about, can you clarify for the viewers at home?”

“A _lot_ of people seems like a stretch.” Lena smiles at the camera as they round a corner “But, sure. I acquire venues, like stadiums, arenas, through renting, buying, one-time events. I then help set everything up for whoever is fighting, which is decided by rankings and by Lex in some ways based on viewing figures.”

Mxy’s smile drops from professional to forced “Get into some detail, we need stuff to edit down.”

“Are you recording both conversations?” She looks at Kara and Felicity still chatting beside her.

“Of course. It’s the Kara _and_ Lena doc.”

“You and Lex keep changing what this thing is about.”

“It’s about empowering women, are you two not women?”

“Fair enough, I help do the lights, make sure everything is up to code, make sure the promotional footage and the images the fighters request line up with music.”

“That’s a lot of stuff to do.”

“Well, it keeps me from the fighter centric part of the sport. Honestly, in terms of the DEO, Kara is probably the closest I’ve ever been with a fighter.” She doesn’t know why she said that.

_Why did I say that?_

Because it’s true, is her first answer. She actually enjoys Kara’s company, whereas with James it was physical, a very nice physical, but nothing more.

“I guess Lex is playing friend matchmaker.” Mxy’s smile is genuine.

“I guess.”

Kara watches intently as Lena talks to the people in charge. She looks at Kara out of the corner of her eye, willing her to be more subtle. Kara’s stare stays unbreaking.

When they make it to the switchboard room, she has to stop the camera crew from entering.

She goes in and checks a few things over, happy for the reprieve from cameras. The door opens behind her “Mxy, I’m sorry I just need a few minutes.”

“That should be enough time.”

Lena turns and sees Kara looking hungry, her long sleeve shirt not hiding the bulge of her recently worked arms.

“I like it when you wear your business woman clothes.” Kara locks the door.

“This probably isn’t the best spot to do this.” Lena backs into a wall.

Kara stands a fraction of space from her “Neither was my changing room, and that didn’t seem to stop you.”

 _Karma_.

Kara pushes against her and kisses her in little pecks that become deeper and deeper, before she knows it, they’re grinding against each other.

“You’re such an asshole.” Lena twists her tongue inside Kara’s mouth, her base instinct overpowering the part of her brain telling her how stupid this is, that they’re seeing each other tonight, but then the other side of her brain is louder. Kara is here and touchable.

Kara bites her tongue lightly, and Lena can’t help the moan that escapes.

She pushes Kara off of her “We are _not_ having sex right now.”

“Separate cabs to my place then?” Kara asks, unbothered.

“Yes.”

She taps Lena’s chin, “See you soon.” And fixes her hair before stepping out.

Lena looks herself over in her phone screen, and follows Kara’s lead. Except, Kara isn’t there.

“She said that she’s really hungry and that she’ll see you later.” Felicity fills in.

Lena shrugs, knowing they’re hungry for the same thing.

..

She hugs Felicity and orders a cab to the hotel, thrumming with sexual energy the whole way.

Taking the stairs for a theatrical entrance crosses her mind, but she quiets it and takes the elevator.

Her hand has barely touched the room door when it’s thrown open by Kara “Why don’t you dress like this all the time?”

Before she has a chance to answer, Kara is kissing her and bringing her inside.

Kara is biting her shoulder as they work embarrassing noises out of each other, the bedframe shakes with strain, and Lena honestly thinks they’re going to break something. Kara’s mouth quiets those fears.

..

Her head is lying on Kara’s steadily rising chest, her hair being played with expertly. Lena hums happily as Kara rubs into her scalp.

“You’re so easy to please.”

Lena puts a hand to Kara’s leg “I know I’ll regret this, but you’re just _that_ good.” 

She can feel Kara about to be a sore winner when her stomach grumbles.

“Kara, is that a whale call?”

Kara laughs, and Lena enjoys the movement of abs beneath her head “Do you want to go and get dinner?”

Lena grips Kara’s leg tightly “I don’t think that’s a good idea. If people see us together one on one, we’re breaking one of the rules.”

“Figures I’d have to pull this card.” Kara reaches into her bedside table to put glasses on, then ties her hair back and slouches. “Do I look familiar?”

Lena goes into a sitting position on the bed “No way.” Her and “You and Kate Kane? You’re the mystery girl?”

Kara holds her hands out and smirks “Mystery solved.”

“How the hell does that work?”

“I act a little less ‘super’, and I dress like a housewife. Plus, it wasn’t serious.”

Lena laughs “That explains all the hideous blouses at your house.”

Kara frowns “I don’t have any of my lame clothes at my house.”

“Oh. Oops.”

..

Kara leads them to this hole in the wall dumpling place, fussing over them both bringing jackets.

Lena shifts from foot to foot outside “Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?”

“Right now?” Kara kisses her, the taste of mint strong on her lips. “Not at all, I look like a fresh-faced college student taking her foxy professor out.”

“Foxy?”

Kara traces Lena’s jaw “I’d love to be seen with you under different circumstances, but as is, you’re my boss, and I’m not trying to look like I got to where I am by sleeping with my boss.”

“Once again, I have no input on the fights.”

Kara tucks a strand of hair behind her ear “I know. But the look of things is important to me.”

Lena leans into the cup of her hand “It is to me too.”

Kara kisses her cheek “I’m hungry.”

They step inside, Kara picking the booth next to the window.

Sitting across from her, she really can’t see much of the fighter she knows so well, it’s just some bubbly girl. Who looks kind of… cute.

“You look so different like this.” Lena can already feel her hands itching for the camera in her purse.

“Are you going to ask to take a picture?”

Lena has half a mind to feel embarrassed “Who said I was going to ask?” She hooks a foot around Kara’s ankle.

Kara smiles back, and the _real_ her slips through as she lifts Lena’s leg up and pushes her fingers into it “You love asking.”

A waitress comes by, stopping them from making a scene.

“We’ll have fifteen chicken dumplings please.” Kara says without hesitation. “Sorry if that’s rude, I’ve just been working hard today. And bubble tea please.” She spares a glance at Lena.

She waits for the waitress to leave, and cocks her head “Fifteen?”

“Yeah, three or so for you, rest for me.”

Lena laughs “How do you eat this much?”

“Well, I’ve got two workouts from different _trainers_ almost every day now.”

“And which do you prefer?”

“Oh, you know,” Kara licks her lips “The one where I’m working my trainer just as hard.”

..

There’s a companionable silence as they eat, Lena finding a weird pride in eating four dumplings instead of three.

“I used to go to places like this with my mom.” Lena coughs into her napkin “Before, she, like…”

Kara covers her food filled mouth “Started believing in aliens?”

“Well, she always believed in aliens. Before she got bad is probably a better way to say it.”

Kara swallows the food and leans in “Do you see her a lot?”

She shakes her head.

“Would you like to see her more?”

This she has to think about, because the woman from before wasn’t great either, but she was something. “If I’m being honest, I don’t think so. There’s a lot she’ll never have the capacity to apologize for, and I don’t know if I’d want to forgive her even if she could.”

Kara puts her hand over Lena’s “You don’t have to forgive her, but you have to find it in yourself to move on if it isn’t doing you any good.”

Lena flips her hand to take Kara’s offered one, feeling a kinship there that isn’t too far from how Lucy would help. “Thank you.”

A flash comes from outside. Then a muffled voice “Lena! Who’s the new girl?”

She shrinks in her seat, the moment spoiled.

Kara frowns “I’d threaten them, but it would blow my cover.”

The waitress comes back “The owner asked me to tell you about our back exit, says a lot more of those people are coming.”

Lena smiles “ _People_ is a charitable word.” 

Kara puts a twenty down, and they follow the waitress to their escape.

The waitress smiles as she opens the door for them “Perks of dating a celebrity, right?”

Kara puts an arm around Lena “She’s worth it.”

Lena shrugs her off and steps out into the night.

Laughter is following “Usually.”

Lena is halfway down the alleyway “What if they figure it out?” her head is swirling, the implications, she could have to step down, this was so god damned stupid.

A hand is on her shoulder “Lena. You had no idea about me and Kate until I told you. Even my sister wasn’t sure, my _sister_ Lena.”

The part of her that’s freaking out wants to continue spiralling, but that stone hand on her shoulder with steady words and what she knows is an open and forgiving face...

“Okay.”

Kara puts her jacket on, and Lena finds herself mirroring the action.

Kara puts Lena’s hood up “You look amazing.”

Lena nudges her weight into Kara until they’re against the alleyway wall “On the verge of tears your thing Danvers?”

Kara puts her own hood up as rain starts to fall “Don’t kink shame me.”

Lena kisses her as the rain drizzles down, the taste of dumplings and bubble tea strong in her mouth. Once she’s thoroughly worked her mouth, she lets go of her lips with a lingering motion. She snaps a quick picture of her face, those intense eyes and puffed lips.

“You look so good.”

Kara grins “Yeah?”

“So, so, good.”

Kara flips them around so Lena’s against the brick wall, pinning her arms above her head “Keep talking.”

“Your eyes, your smile,” Kara is on her neck, diving into skin that begs for more “Your,” she fights a moan “ _arms_.”

Kara lets Lena’s arms down “Back to my place?”

Lena barely nods before Kara is dragging her away.

..

She wakes up in Kara’s arms and nuzzles into the warmth before unlocking her phone.

**_LenaLuthor_ ** **is Trending**

“Fuck.” She presses on the notification, scrolling through all of the reactions.

**_hot_ **

**_so hot_ **

Most have the same level of literary value. Then she gets to the two pictures.

The first is of her and Kara at the restaurant, they’re somewhat covered by the glare of the window, and you truly can’t tell it’s Kara, the uncharacteristic slouch combined with the housewife look being a stupidly effective disguise.

The second makes her cringe, it’s of the two of them in rain, she’s barely able to make out her own face, and Kara is covered by her neck working action. The picture is such an invasion of privacy. That people take her intimate moments and parade them around on the internet makes her cringe with disgust.

Kara sighs into her ear “Well, that’s annoying.”

She turns in Kara’s arms to face her, the blue of her eyes blinding without the glasses. “You’re not mad?”

“First off, _disguise_ , second.” She kisses Lena between the eyes “Those pictures are really invasive, but getting angry about them doesn’t benefit me. I’ve had to let go of a lot of anger in my life, and that’s not the anger I choose to hold on to.”

Lena relaxes her body “If this fighting thing doesn’t work out, you should be a therapist.”

“I’m just calm and talk smart.” Kara hushes Lena’s incoming grammar correction “Plus, my third choice, if the chef thing didn’t work out, would be something that lets me help people get their voice out there.”

Lena playfully bites on Kara’s hushing finger “Really?”

Kara wriggles her finger that’s caught in Lena’s teeth “Yeah, like a reporter or something.” Kara finally frees her finger from Lena’s mouth “What are you doing up so early?”

Lena looks at her questioningly “What do you mean? I figured you have the day off.”

“Nope, my alarm is going to go off in five minutes. I think you’ve converted to my sleep schedule.”

The thought is a tad distressing “I’ve never seen your morning routine.”

Kara pulls the covers off of them “It’s the last day of out of town training. Media circus, then coming back here for the fight.”

Lena has a realization “No sex until after the fight.” _Three days_

Kara nods, then her face shifts to a smile “I can afford to be a little late, and room service isn’t due for another twenty minutes.”

Lena wipes some sleep from her eyes and feels for a contact lens that she no longer wears “What are you suggesting?”

“That you become part of the morning routine, and help me shower.”

..

Lena is spent, spread out over the sheets, wanting more while being firmly aware that it would be too much.

Kara winks “I’ll see you on fight night.”

She thinks to tell her about the vampiric amount of hickeys on her neck, but smiles instead “See you Kara.”

Lena falls back into a pleasant sleep, imagining Kara wearing her fight uniform and using her stamina for all the right reasons.

She wakes with a wet spot on the sheets, and laughs “Fucking Kara.”

A quick scan of the room, a sign for room cleaning on the door handle, and she’s off to National City.

..

It dawns on her that she doesn’t usually follow her new muses around, but while she’s developing the new batch of photos at her home, it also dawns on her that she’s never had a model quite this good.

The picture of Kara in the rain turns out especially well. But her brain is going for something less wholesome, and more, _revealing_. She snatches a photo from its spot and takes her pants off with the other, it’s Kara with a barely there layer of blanket. Lena goes to her couch and grinds into her hand, staring at the picture and remembering all of the things that Kara did to her that night.

_Kara_

_Kara_

_Kara_

The internal repetition becomes a whisper.

Three days is a long time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Probably my favourite chapter to write.  
> Slight warning for grief talk, things in that vein.  
> Also has lots of references to the other shows in the Arrowverse, not enough that you'll be lost, but in the famous words of Pusha T 'if you know you know'.

Thea and Felicity are crashing through her door, drunk as their college selves.

Thea has a sloppy smile “Roy is gonna kick some ass.”

Felicity is equally off the wagon “My husband is the best coach.”

“My _brother_ is the best coach.”

Lena laughs at the sight “You’re talking about the same person.”

The pair drop to her couch and smile up at her like she’s their mom, and without a few more drinks, that might be her permanent role here.

Stay sober for sex with Kara, or avoid being the mom friend?

She pours herself a drink and air cheers it “It’s not like she’s my girlfriend.” She comments aloud without meaning to.

Thea air cheers back without understanding “Sure!”

..

Diggle isn’t impressed, but he’s definitely entertained. “You girls are going to be getting a lot of unflattering pictures.”

Mind hazy, Lena wraps her arms around her friends “Nonsense. I can have any guy or girl I want, my fuck buddy takes amazing pictures of me, and they can’t use a camera for shit.” _Though I seem to just be seeing Kara lately_

Felicity looks relatively sober for a moment “You didn’t bring your camera, did you?”

Lena flutters her eyes “Oh no, how could I ever have made such a blunder?” She gets her digital camera out of her purse “I’m not _that_ drunk.” She gets a few pictures of Thea’s sleeping face and Felicity’s poorly hidden amusement.

When they step out, she has half a mind to take pictures of the people taking pictures, then decides she doesn’t feel like reading about some deep dive exploration of her artistic choice to do so when she’s just drunk.

They take their seats next to Lex with the appropriate amount of fanfare.

Lex laughs at them for an elongated minute, pauses, then breaks out into laughter again. “I can already see the headline, hashtag _white girl wasted_.”

“Whatever.” Thea slurs “I’m here to see Roy reprove himself against Adrian, and then get a chance to fight Slade again.”

Lex raises an eyebrow “So, that’s the plan? Roy has been looking especially lean in all of his Instagram posts.”

“My man.” Thea hisses with possessiveness.

“The two women I’m seeing tonight will be happy to call you and protect my heterosexuality.”

Lena slaps his side “Christ Lex, don’t be so open about it.”

Lex stands and looks left to right “I don’t see anyone here that gives a damn. I do my thing and she does hers.”

When she looks a little closer, she realizes he’s a little drunk too “And what does she do?”

“Good try. The fight is starting, get your ducklings in line.”

“Ducklings!” _oh my god I’m so drunk_ “Fights are starting.”

Felicity and Thea listen, and Lena comes to the realization that even the very drunk version of her is the mom friend. 

She blinks and misses the introductions, a little sad to not see Kara in huge HD picture quality.

She talks with Lex through the fight introduction, and is finally able to stop her traitor heart from being attracted to Ben Lockwood.

Manchester Black comes out, and even though she doesn’t like the man’s personality, or how intense he is about his political views, she’s rooting for him.

Lex leans over to her “If he doesn’t beat the shit out of Ben, there’s a chance that Ben and James fight again.”

“James won though.”

“Ben is getting better.”

Lena blows air into his hairpiece “I guess we’ll just have to see.”

..

“Oh my god, he’s so much better.”

That bubbling anger Ben sports has been redirected into a focused snake like attack strategy, each precision hit making the groggy Manchester return with increasingly sloppy punches.

Manchester’s eye looks ready to pop out when Ben drops him like a bad habit.

“That’s Ben Lockwood in round one with a knockout!” Winn makes his way over to Ben “Any words for the audience?”

“Oh shit.” Lex mumbles.

“Oh, I’ve got a few.” Ben takes his gloves off and grabs the mic “I want everyone here to look at where hard work gets you. I wasn’t prepared to fight James before, but if I work my way back up, I know that I can take that belt. That man is a great fighter, but I have the heart of a patriot. And as always-“ He holds the mic out for the crowd, some of which yell back _America First_.

Lena lets go of Lex’s hand, not realizing she was holding it “That, wasn’t actually that bad?”

“I can feel some real hair growing back.”

..

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your co-main event. Maggie Sawyer! She’s a considerable thorn in any fighter’s side. A gold medalist in Olympic wrestling, no one wants to go to the ground with Maggie.”

Thea laughs “Except Kara’s sister.”

Before she can ask what that means, the walkout is over, and Kara is starting.

“One loss, a seven-win fight streak. You know her, you love her, and the more I say just keeps eyes off of her. KARA DANVERS! THE GIRL OF STEEL!”

 _That_ look, is in Kara’s eyes. The one she brandishes in the bedroom and in the octagon, and Lena is lost to it.

The close up makes everyone quiet. Except Lena, she just feels an urge that makes her hips move on their own accord, because Kara is sporting hickeys that Lena gave her. A poor makeup job drawing even more attention to them.

She wants to add more to Kara’s neck, wants to get that post win sex that these three days have made her crave like a virgin. Three days that she hasn’t had sex. Are fuck buddies supposed to be exclusive? When did she start doing that?

“Round 1.” Interrupts her thoughts.

They touch gloves amicably, and Maggie shoots for Kara’s legs. Kara times a knee that hits Maggie as her head is going, and dazes her. Maggie smiles, her chin bloodied.

Kara moves in cautiously, knowing as well as anybody that Maggie isn’t to be underestimated. A few jabs land from both of them that crack across the crowd, cheers silencing in anticipation.

“Get her Kara.” The words come out with no provocation, making her feel like one of the partners she’s seated with.

Supportive and yelled slurring comes from her side “Fuck her up Kara!”

Of all people, it’s Lex.

She gives him a questioning look that he either ignores or doesn’t notice.

Kara kicks Maggie in the chest, sending her back into the cage and follows it up with a blurry combination of punches and kicks. Maggie holds her arm up and blocks a choice punch, turning it into a grapple that sends both of them to the ground. 

Eye’s wide, Kara slips her way out of a choke hold and throws a couple of sloppy elbows as deterrent. Maggie is slipping around, grabbing at Kara’s limbs, hoping she can latch to one with her vice grip. But Kara won’t give her an easy win, contorting herself to avoid those deadly holds and elbowing relentlessly.

When the bell sounds, they both lay there for a moment and gasp for air.

J’onn comes over and helps Kara up with some words of encouragement. She’s so sweaty, glistening with effort, Lena can feel her hands twitching to touch her, to massage some of that stress out.

That gives her an idea.

..

Round Two begins.

They exchange a smile, then Maggie is ducking a kick that was meant for her face. 

Kara is trying to get Maggie near the cage, which is where Maggie has the advantage.

“What the hell is she doing?”

Lex shrugs, not breaking his stare.

Maggie follows, guards up as she no doubt wonders the same thing.

Kara has one foot forward, and the other one at an angle. Like she’s playing baseball and Maggie’s head is the ball. Maggie throws a feel punch, then shoots for Kara’s legs. Kara sidesteps and kicks Maggie’s falling head, before Maggie -or even Lena- can react, Kara is battering Maggie’s face in with hammering punches.

The ref is watching closely “Maggie you have to give me something, or I’m calling a stop to this.”

Maggie shifts her weight and only causes Kara to hit harder.

The ref moves in. “That’s it. We’re done.”

Kara jumps to her feet and stumbles into the gate on her way to J’onn.

Lena gets up and starts yelling, and the rest of the audience follows suit.

There are definitely some words being said after the fight, but Kara is bruised, and so fucking _sexy_ looking. The words aren’t important.

She starts drumming on her seat waiting for the next fight.

..

“Roy Harper _versus_ **Adrian Chase**!” There’s a pause as Adrian emerges, the music blaring and accentuating his cocky sway.

Her alcohol muddled mind is telling her that stats are being thrown around, but all that she can manage is fantasies of making Kara glisten in that same way again. 

“This is his chance to redeem his claim to the throne, and is Adrian’s chance to get his time in the sun again. It’s anyone’s fight.”

Roy and Adrian nod at each other, respect having blossomed against their wishes.

Round One is off to a flying start. Literally.

Adrian comes out with a flying knee, launching himself in a frighteningly straight arc of energy. It lands on Roy’s barely formed X of arm defence. Roy is rocked back, and eats as many strikes as he deflects.

There are gears turning in Roy’s head. Gears of frustration, gears of understanding. The understanding becomes a punch, a kick, a tactical shove.

A round that should have been Adrian’s is becoming Roy’s.

Lena turns to Felicity “How has he gotten that much better?”

Felicity deflates into her seat “Oliver.”

The endearment and loyalty is suffocatingly cute. After Jack, before Jack, there’s none of that. 

A rousing display of punches and kicks go back and forth between the two, and Adrian makes some distance for a kick, but Roy is hounding after him, relentless in his pursuit. Roy pushes Adrian’s head into place, and jumps while kicking out, dropping Adrian with a thud. Adrian scrambles to his feet, avoiding an early knockout.

As Roy is setting up for another attempt on Adrian’s consciousness, Round One ends. Roy’s hands drop, and he goes to his corner for some pointers.

She’d never say it out loud, but she’s surprised at how invested she’s getting in this fight. Her phone buzzes in her pocket.

 ** _Kara Danvers:_** **This fight is way better than I expected**

Kara has never texted her outside of their usual thing, to meet up and have sex, or hang out, and then have sex. It’s more… friendly.

 **_Lena:_ ** **Right?**

 **_Lena:_ ** **I want you so bad**

The second text is written without any look over by her brain.

 **_Kara Danvers:_ ** **I can see you smiling in the crowd shots**

Lena looks up to a camera and winks.

 **_Lena:_ ** **See that?**

 **_Kara Danvers:_ ** **wow. Yes. Now stop being distracting**

 **_Lena:_ ** **Never**

She pockets her phone, realizing this whole texting thing isn’t the lead in to serious that she’d been dreading it to be. Roy and Adrian are punching and kicking back and forth in some fascinating display that she’s somewhat absorbing, because if she _can’t_ text her, then it’s clearly not casual, texting is good. Texting means that they’re not losing track of their boundaries.

Roy drops Adrian with a swinging fist that slaps into the side of his head, and Adrian stays down.

She claps as Felicity and Thea rush the stage for their people, and walks off to find Kara. Knowing she’ll get some of the things they’re getting, with none of the complications.

 **_Lena:_ ** **Where are you?**

 **_Kara Danvers:_ ** **Come find me**

Lena stops on top of the stairway as people filter past. Changing room is too obvious, in the crowd is too difficult…

 **_Kara Danvers:_ ** **One hint. Where I first saw you**

That does make it the changing room. Lena walks with pep in her step, to the _empty_ changing room.

She looks in the showers, her tipsy mind conjuring up an image of Kara jumping out at her. Then it dawns on her, Kara noticed her that day, when she was crouched in the stands. She races out to look, and sees Kara crouched down and giggling at her phone in the mid left section. Lena sneaks along the side of the stands and makes her way to a row above where Kara is seated, there’s still a few stragglers leaving, but none seem to pay mind to Lena tiptoeing around and laughing like a misbehaving child.

Working her way closer, she attempts to quiet the buzz of her phone. Now Kara is within reach, Lena grabs her shoulders and yells.

Kara thrashes a bit, then calms “Oh, jeez Lena, you scared me.”

Lena laughs to herself and sits next to Kara “I thought for sure that you’d swear that time.”

Kara exhales and leans back “Why are you obsessed with me swearing?”

“With all the _things_ I’ve done to you, I just expect a bit more of a reaction.”

Kara looks around with a healthy amount of paranoia. “Are you drunk?”

“A little. I still want you to explain yourself.”

“I just,” Kara shrugs “I don’t like to swear.”

“What could I do to make you swear?”

“My family has heard me swear. I was kind of a brat as kid, Alex had to sort me out.”

“Speaking of Alex-“

“That.” Kara is staring daggers at something “Makes me want to swear.”

Lena turns and sees what she sees, there’s a woman taking pictures of them from across the room. Lena flips the camera off “Different exits, meet me at my place.”

“No. I drove here, you’re coming with me.”

Lena stops getting up, pinned to her seat by the words “Bossy is a _very_ good look on you.”

Kara blushes in what might be modesty “About Alex. I sparred with Maggie a lot when they were together.” Kara stands “I’ll pick you up in the parking lot.” She brushes a finger over Lena’s shoulder “Hope you’re ready.”

Lena stares up at her, hoping the look in her eyes conveys all that she wants it to.

Kara walks away laughing.

Lena waits what feels like an appropriate amount of time, stands, then has a realization.

 **_Lena:_ ** **Won’t it look suspicious for me to go home with you, in your car?**

 **_Kara Danvers:_ ** **If you’d hurry up and actually see my car, you would get why that won’t be a problem**

Curious, Lena makes her way to the parking lot. A security guard nods at her, and she tries to nod back seriously, like she isn’t half drunk and hooking up with a fighter. The night air cools her down significantly, enough for her to take in and enjoy the peaceful quiet of the parking lot.

Then a shit heap car with tinted windows is honking at her.

She takes her phone back out to ask Kara to hurry up, then it buzzes with answer.

 ** _Kara Danvers:_** **It’s me**

The passenger side opens “Seriously, get in.”

She does, though it’s with trepidation.

Kara takes off, a lot faster than she expected Kara or the car to go. “Where I grew up there wasn’t much to do except drive cars. And having a car that looked like crap helped me win.”

“You tricked them? Doesn’t seem like you.”

Kara takes a sharp turn and then stops softly “Put your seatbelt on.”

“I trust you not to crash.”

Kara just stares, so Lena obliges. “It wasn’t _really_ intentional, this car is easy to modify, and a new body is expensive,” Kara speeds up as she sees the green light is about to turn yellow “And it helps me stay low-key when I’m driving around.”

“You know how to get to my place?”

Kara smiles without looking over “I actually know the city pretty well.”

They stop as a line of cars stretches out before them, inching forward with honks announcing each movement. Lena sighs and shrinks down in her seat “Oh Christ, the Lakehawks game.”

The car stopped, Kara looks over at Lena “What _ever_ shall we do?”

Lena shifts in her seat “Are you saying what I think?”

Kara unbuttons Lena’s jeans and fits a hand down her panties “Oh, good girl.”

All of the parts of her that can imagine how badly this goes are getting quieter as Kara’s hand makes her hiss through her teeth in barely contained pleasure. “This,” _oh_ “Is a bad idea.”

Kara leans over and rakes her teeth over Lena's earlobe “So was doing this same thing at the fight with that coat,” Kara drives a finger in with a hint of anger “That coat you seemingly magicked out of thin air to cause me problems.”

Slightly angry Kara is maybe the hottest she’s ever been. “Uh huh.”

“Making me fight with a giant hickey on my neck.” Two fingers.

“Holy shit.” She might break a window if she can’t keep from reaching out for something to hold on to.

The car is crawling forward, and Kara eyes are on the road, but her attention is between Lena’s legs.

“Oh my god Kara.” It’s unfair that she can keep being hotter and hotter.

A bruise is blossoming on Kara’s brow that Lena wants to kiss away.

“I don’t like seeing you bruised.” The words are tender for what’s happening, and Kara stops.

She looks to Kara with pleading eyes, and then Kara’s thumb joins the mix, rubbing in tandem with the push of the fingers.

“Oh Kara. Kara that’s so good.” It feels like being dominated and taken care of all at once, Kara is working her senseless, but she’s driving so carefully, it doesn’t make any sense, and the confusion is stopping her from getting where she needs to be.

“There’s a lot of honking, you can be noisy.”

That’ll do it. She grabs onto Kara’s arm and arcs her body into the touch, a loud moan escaping.

Lena is locked into a slouch in her seat, watching with a whimper as Kara takes her hand out of Lena’s pants and licks her fingers.

Lena is working for a full breath even as traffic finally breaks. “Kara.”

Mutual flustered breathing is the only noise in the car as Kara drives them closer to Lena’s place.

Kara turns them on to the street leading to Lena’s place and parks in a spot that won’t get her ticketed.

“Kara.”

She finally turns and kisses Lena’s neck, making her wonder if you can scar someone’s neck by kissing it too much.

“I went through to my jeans.” Lena squints through to the front of her place and sees a smattering of paparazzi.

Kara looks down at the wet spot “I’m so proud.”

Lena looks at her with embarrassment colouring her cheeks. “We can just use the underground parking and sneak our way up.”

The risk versus reward is steep. Then she sees some sweat is building again on Kara’s breast, and she remembers her ideas for tonight.

“Worst case,” Kara continues, unaware of Lena’s plans “We can just go to my house. Even when they release that documentary, I don’t think anyone is going to be finding my place.”

Lena grabs Kara’s hand “Underground parking for sure.”

Kara drives them down, and Lena can’t keep her eyes off of her.

“Oh my god the pictures might actually kill me.”

Kara parks “You’re a weird one Lena.”

Lena plants a kiss on her jawline “Only around you.” Once again, this version of drunk Lena seems to be romantic.

Kara freezes.

Lena gets out “I’m only kidding.” She makes her way to Kara’s side “There are things I want to do to you, so hurry it up.”

Kara does follow, looking at the wet spot on Lena’s jeans with hunger. “Lead the way.”

She takes them to the staff elevator, and it’s much too small for all of the want that they have in their stares.

Lena opens her room door, and Kara carries her to the bed, managing to get Lena’s pants off as their tongues fight for dominance.

“No.”

Kara steps back, looking mortified “Oh. I’m sorry, should I go?”

The adamant respect of boundaries is cute after all the things they’ve done “No. I want to do something to you first.”

Kara cocks an eyebrow.

“Take off your clothes and lay down on the bed.”

Lena blindly reaches into her end table, unable to look away from the show Kara is putting on. The few bruises on her chest make Lena frown, and when Kara turns around to give her a great view of her panties dropping, Lena is looking at the bruises on her back and Kara’s ass with equal attention. Would she be this concerned over friends being bruised?

Kara lays on the bed and puts her chin in her hand as she waits. And Lena ignores the question.

Lena gets the bottle out and smiles.

Kara looks back and tenses “I hope that’s not lube. I don’t judge, but I’m really not into strap-ons.”

“Good to know, and in case you were curious, I’m undecided.”

“Well as long as we’re together, you won’t have the opportunity to find out.” It’s said with possessiveness that makes Kara’s back flex in effort.

“Together?”

Kara lets her head drop to the sheets and mumbles “ _you know what I mean.”_

Lena takes off the rest of her clothes and makes her way around the bed so that she can straddle Kara’s legs. She squirts some of the oil into her hand and starts to cover Kara in a sheen of it. “Oh god yes.”

Kara’s laugh rumbles through to Lena’s body.

Lena trails her hands all over Kara’s back, teasing at her sides and rubbing lightly on the bruises. The laughing stops.

“You’re really into this.” Kara says in realization.

Lena parts her thighs and smiles “And so are you.”

Kara sighs “What can I say?”

“Fuck, shit, something that really lets me know how much you’re enjoying yourself.” Lena uses her thumbs to massage Kara’s neck, kneading into her flesh, unable to help the slight grind of her body into Kara’s ass.

Kara’s sigh is now one of wanting “Sex with you is literally up there as some of the best sex I’ve ever had. Period. You’re by far the best friends with benefits situation I’ve ever had. Why do I need to swear to prove that?”

Lena cups Kara’s ass with her hands, covering her in more oil “That’s good to know, you’re also the best. It’s not a want, more of a need. Kind of like I _need_ you to flip over.”

Kara flips over, Lena giving her just enough leg room to do so.

Lena gets started on her chest “You look so good like this.”

Kara closes her eyes as Lena grabs her tits “Just do it already.”

Lena applies a liberal amount of oil to the rest of her chest “Not yet.” Lena wipes her hands off on her somewhat soiled sheets and finds her film camera, having the momentary understanding that she didn’t use the digital one for anything but selfies and high school party types of pictures.

 _Maybe I am a hipster_

Kara is looking at her with radiating lust, her body flexed, every muscle showing in a way that says more than her words of just how badly she wants it. She gets one of just her body, an image comparable to Greek statues, the other ones are of her face and chest. “This is the best idea I’ve ever had.”

Kara looks at her with annoyance and barely hidden desire. She clicks more as she starts to move toward her.

“Have a good grip on your camera?”

“Yes, why?”

Kara grabs Lena by the waist and puts her right over Kara’s mouth.

Lena is nearly dripping at the sight. Kara is staring at her, those cutting blue eyes looking up at her, mouth ready for Lena. She gets one good picture of the way she looks below her.

Then she’s literally dripping as Kara gets started.

Lena is able to manage a couple more pictures before shakily putting her camera on the end table. And before she knows it, she’s nearly punching her wall as she orgasms in Kara’s mouth.

..

They’re both covered in oil by the end of it. Lena grasping Kara’s chest like a life line, cheek resting on an oiled up and extremely firm set of abs.

Kara lets out a satisfied breath “You look so beautiful when you’re curled up on me.”

Lena feels exposed by the comment, and makes to lay her head on the bed instead, but Kara holds her in place.

“What part of that implies I want you to move?”

Lena bites Kara’s nipple until she lets Lena go with a gasp, allowing Lena to kiss all over Kara’s face with blotches of oil, she moves her mouth to Kara’s and sucks on her bottom lip until she’s granted entrance.

As her tongue finds its way in, she can feel Kara grinding up into her leg with low grunts. Kara flips them suddenly, and the air leaves Lena’s chest.

Lena reaches out to touch at Kara’s body, the drug that it is.

Kara pins her arms down “Do you even know how to give a massage?”

“Well…”

Kara drags her tongue over Lena’s neck until she’s gripping her sheets at the feeling.

“Be honest with me Lena.”

Lena moves her head to give Kara more access to her neck “When the punishment is, _oh_ , this good, why would I?”

“Because.” Kara leans down, oh so close, “You don’t get to look at me.”

Kara flips Lena, turns herself around, and pins Lena’s hands in her own strong grip. Even straining her neck, she can only see Kara’s back. “Come on.” Lena kicks out her legs, and then a finger is silencing her.

The torturous movements have Lena begging for release. “Please Kara.”

“Only if you tell me the truth.”

Lena kicks her legs out again fruitlessly, the unyielding heat between them not letting up. She lets her legs go limp “Okay. I just wanted an excuse to cover you in oil, and I was pissy that I had to wait three days to touch you again.”

“I missed you too.”

“That’s not what I sa-“ When Lena kicks her legs out this time, it’s good, it’s so good. Lena bites her pillow, moaning loudly. 

Abstinence isn’t so bad when the release is like that.

Lena is staring at the ceiling, strong arms propping her up, and Kara is looking at her like she’s ready for another round.

Lena taps on Kara’s chest “I’m tapping out, and you’re a sore winner if you continue.”

“ _Sore_ is definitely the right word for it.” Kara does relent though, rubbing circles of admiration in Lena’s skin. Kara is staring at her “Come hiking with me tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

“Also, and this isn’t me breaking a rule,” Lena lazily looks at Kara, who’s looking anywhere else “Are we exclusive?”

Lena thinks, and realizes the answer is “Yes. I’m not going to see anyone else.”

Her eyes grow heavy as Kara soothes her back, she has a brief thought of how easily she agreed to _that_ , and to going for the hike, not even aware of her schedule.

..

When she wakes in the morning, Kara is gone. Lena’s seats are covered in oil, and there’s the faint smell of her own shampoo in the air.

Her phone rings, and she picks it up with a smile “Want me again so quickly?”

“Thank god,” a relieved _Lex_ says “I was starting to think you were done with dating.”

Lena leans back on her -potentially ruined- bedsheets with a sigh “I’m not dating anyone.”

“Then you’re not busy today?”

She gets up and looks at herself in the mirror, admiring the many bruises of sex on her body. “I do have a social life.”

“Busy enough to avoid your job?”

“Way to get to the point Lex.”

“I’ve got a talent for drawing things out.”

Lena clinks her head against the wall outside of her bathroom, thinking of the times she’s been slammed into it by her new favourite superstar. “Well, stop being talented or I’ll hang up.”

“Can you interview Sam Arias?”

“Not Kara?” A sliver of her disappointment bleeding through.

“Can’t bank too hard on her, get some good stuff with Sam so we don’t look like idiots if Kara gets dethroned in any of the three fights coming up.”

“Only three fight until she’s against Sam?”

Lex is shuffling some papers “The women’s division isn’t huge, and her doing those two fights back to back made her go up the ladder quicker than most.”

“You’re saying,” She does some mental math on how long the fighters usually wait between fights. “In a little less than a year, she could be fighting Sam? What if Sam gets taken out before then?”

Lex laughs “The Lance sisters could both fight her at once and still lose, she’s not going anywhere.”

“Think Kara can take her?”

Silence, in the break she starts the shower and waits for it to get warm. Then a tap on a table from the other end of the phone line makes her attention return “Maybe. Between you and me, it would really help to shake up the division to have a media friendly female champion. I’m banking on her a little bit, and the hype this series could produce is part of that. An hour long special is what we’re hoping for, and the pictures of you and Kara being chummy are certainly helping humanize her, and yourself.”

Fighting hard to let panic not seep into her voice, she puts Lex on speaker. His voice becomes tinny, and his words unimportant.

A lot of _KaraDanvers_ thirst posts later, and she finds a pairing of pictures taken from a cellphone. It’s Kara freaking out and Lena laughing in the stands last night, nothing suggestive at all. And the majority of comments seem to just find it funny, one or two comments about how they should kiss, but even those are drowned out by saying that people can just be friends. While it’s true on a grand level, she’s does have more than friendship with Kara.

She puts the phone back to her ear, hearing the end of some grand speech “Hey Lex, I have stuff to do, send me the address and time.” She hangs up with relief.

..

Sam Arias’ gym is about as intimidating as her. A black building with none of the charm or wear and tear she’s come to expect from gyms she’s visited.

That’s when it hits, she’s never visited the Arias gym.

‘Reign’ is the title stenciled on the front.

She enters and the camera are already rolling, she schools her expression into something that’s more camera friendly. “Hi Mxy.”

His smile is also forced, and she finds herself relieved to not be the only one who’s intimidated.

Julia Freeman, the somewhat friendly one of the bunch, approaches. “Lena, please come in.” The handshake isn’t the icy cold and firm thing she was expecting. Julia leads them through the gym, showing a wealth of equipment. But Lena’s eyes are on the dark haired and aggressive Sam Arias who’s kicking the shit out of her sparring partner.

The cameras seem to have followed Lena’s focus.

“Sam!” Julia waves to get her attention.

Sam throws a punch that flattens her partner. “Finally got a Luthor in this gym.” She gets out of the cage easily and walks confidently to Lena “Was starting to think you two were scared to come here.”

_Who wouldn’t be?_

Lena gets the icy and firm handshake her mind has promised “Just busy.”

There’s not even a hint of a smile on Sam’s face. “What do you need from me?”

Lena tries to think back “Well, about thirty minutes of your time. Some words about being a woman in the sport.”

“I honestly think the majority of the woman’s division is a joke.”

“Oh, do you-“

Sam is looking at the camera now “Literally the only opponent who even _somewhat_ interests me, is the Danvers girl. And she doesn’t take things seriously enough.”

Lena wants to run to Kara’s defence, but she quiets that part of her “What makes you interested in her as an opponent?”

Sam walks to a speedbag and starts working it “She’s a good fighter. J’onn is wasting his talents on her, but he’s making her into someone worthwhile.”

She finds words dying on her lips, ones that would show her bias.

“All of these wins are a hot streak, and I believe her first loss is who she really is as a fighter. She has a decent chance of working her way up to me. But, when she gets to me, that streak is ending.” She punctuates the promise with a hard hit on the speedbag.

“Do you think your team will be a big support in keeping you on top before that day?”

Sam smirks, the closest thing to personable she’s done the whole time “It’s not the WWE, we can’t team up and pummel her. I’m going to be fighting Sara, probably knock her back a step or two depending on how she scores. Then I’m going to wait for Kara to work her way up, and knock her out.”

“Your confidence really isn’t played up for the camera huh?”

Sam points to the cameraman hovering behind them “You’ll never know.”

Sarcasm will have to do for personality. She wonders if Mxy will edit her to look less like the emotionless robot that she is.

Lena leaves, feeling like she’s just interacted with a murderer.

Needing the opposite feeling, and some other things, she calls Kara and leans against the gym exterior.

“I was wondering when you would call.”

No judgment or anger, just the same unbridled optimism. Lena smiles “I was hung up on talking to your apparent rival, Sam.”

“No way. Sam Arias thinks we’re rivals?” There’s something close to an excited squeal on the other end “That’s been a dream of mine since I was in high school.”

The age gap rears it’s head. She uses Felicity’s words of casual encouragement to calm herself, five years is normal in straight relationships, why can’t it be normal for whatever her and Kara have? _And_ , she reminds herself, this isn’t a relationship.

She waits until Kara is done gushing about being a target for her biggest idol, feeling a tad guilty for completely blocking out her words “That hike. Still offering?”

“I’d say always, but I’ll be getting a lot busier.”

“Not too busy for me though?” Lena asks, needing some flirting in her life.

“ _Never_.”

She makes a half baked effort to hide how much it effects her “C-can we do the other thing before the hiking?” Lena is already calling a car to pick her up.

“What _ever_ are you talking about Ms. Luthor?”

She can see the car she called already, and her thighs are already sore, as if anticipating how they’ll be soon “Don’t make me beg.”

“You’re so good at it though.”

She opens the door to the car with hands that betray just how willingly she would beg. “I’ll do anything you want, soon.” Lena hangs up, pretending to hang onto some self respect. “Can you take me to…” Using her business woman brain instead of the one between her legs, she realizes two things.

1: She is way too trusting of her drivers to not mention her visiting Kara as much as she does.

2: Her camera isn’t in her purse.

“Take me home please.” The drive is three minutes, but the drivers are salaried, so a short trip isn’t something she thinks they would mind.

She gets out and manages to walk, instead of run, to the elevator.

The camera is in her dark room. She checks her phone, the new pictures will be done developing now. She walks in, and is greeted by Kara in so many different positions, smiles of embarrassment, smiles of pride, smiles of lust. Wandering looks and hidden frowns in this condo, and in Kara’s home. 

It’s going to take a bonfire to get rid of all these pictures.

The realist in her acknowledging once again that this has an expiration date. She takes a particularly flattering one down and grabs her camera.

..

It’s not impaired driving, but the way she grips the steering wheel on the way over still makes her feel irresponsible. The picture is in her glove compartment, she doesn’t know why she brought it. Her eyes gravitate to it, and she jerks them back into place.

_Get it together_

She follows her own advice and arrives without causing an accident. There’s still a good amount of light in the sky, she steps out and knocks on Kara’s door. There’s a muffled _one sec_ and then the door is open.

“Lena.”

She steps in “Kara.”

They tackle each other to the floor, and she briefly wonders about getting a place in the country so she can be this noisy. That wonder is soon taken away by fingers and a mouth working to test just how noisy Lena can be.

By some grand miracle, that includes the miracle of Kara’s arms, they make it to the couch.

..

“Oh, Kara. You’re too good to me.” She rubs her head into the strong chest that makes her feel so satisfied.

“For a beautiful lady, I’ll do whatever I can.”

Lena basks in the silence and afterglow, then sees the concern colouring Kara’s face “I like when people flirt, it makes me feel wanted.” The vulnerable words are out before she can stop them.

“Well, then you’ll love to hear this. That wasn’t flirting, that was a statement.”

Lena kisses Kara’s chest and gets up from the couch, leaning over in a very deliberate way to retrieve her camera “You literally just flirted with me right then.”

Kara leans against the arm of the couch, and her abs are perfectly accented. “Guess that explains how I managed to get you in my bed.”

“I did most of the leg work here.” Lena is able to catch her abs and the way she’s looking away abashedly, in a single click of her camera.

“Speaking of leg work, the sun is going down in a few hours and we need to get hiking.”

Lena puts her clothes on, obedient with Kara to a fault. “How the hell do you know that mountain man?”

Kara taps her phone.

“Oh, right.”

Kara already has her stuff on and is tying her boots, she looks back to Lena, hair framing her face in a flattering way. She has to consider that Kara may just be too good of a model, that there are somehow _too_ many good moments like this. She’s going to amass a huge bill for film at this rate.

Lena makes her way to Kara, and Kara stands to looks Lena up and down. “You’re wearing _that_?”

She feels flushed, thinking back to days in school where the same words were said in similar ways. “I thought you liked the way I dress.”

Kara puts a hand under Lena’s suit jacket and rubs her thumb into her waist “I love the way you dress. But you’re not dressed for,” Kara points outside “That.”

Lena falls into Kara’s chest “Right.”

“I’ll grab you a shirt, but considering how badly you’ll fit into that, I don’t think you’ll fit in my shoes or pants.”

Kara kicks off her shoes and goes up the stairs.

Lena looks down at her getup with shame, her thirst for Kara isn’t fading in the slightest, it’s only getting worse, and making her stupid.

“You’ll look good in my shirt.” Kara is already back, holding a long sleeve with a smile.

“James said the same thing. I prefer my own clothes.”

Kara frowns and throws Lena the shirt “It’s not my fault that you wanted to get here so badly that you forgot to dress appropriately.”

Lena mumbles something resembling mockery and throws her suit jacket to the couch in favour of the shirt.

..

It’s silent for a few minutes as they hike, Lena feeling misplaced guilt over the comment about James. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, I get it. Everyone gets a little crazy around me.” Kara flicks her head and takes off with a giggle.

“You shit!” Lena chases after her.

Kara, as expected, is a lot faster “Be careful, don’t want dirty shoes paired with a dirty mouth.”

How she can manage to be clever while running is a mystery. “Fucker.” Is Lena’s well thought out response.

“Only doing that to you.”

Her lacking balance is thrown off even further by the comment, and she finds herself ankle deep in some kind of muck. “Kara.”

“Come get me.” Her voice is retreating.

“Kara I actually need your help.”

Twigs and leaves loudly make themselves known as Kara sprints back to her “Are you okay?” The concern on Kara’s face soon shifts to barely contained amusement “Aw, Lena this is your first time.”

Lena crosses her arms and stares indignantly off in the distance.

Kara walks over and easily lifts her from the mess, placing her on more solid ground. “Want to keep going, or should we turn back?”

“You really wouldn’t mind turning back?”

She shrugs “I can do this any day, it’s you who would be missing out.”

The casual niceness gets to her “I really came here for one thing.”

Kara’s posture droops “Well, that’s not true.”

Lena cocks an eyebrow in question.

“If that’s all you wanted, you’d be gone already.”

“Maybe,” Lena gets close, not knowing why she’s insisting on denying the enjoyment she gets from Kara’s company “Or I just want round two.”

Something like hurt travels past Kara’s features. “I… I don’t like you talking about this like it’s nothing.”

“It’s supposed to be nothing though.”

Kara makes a pained face “I’m not some random person Lena, I thought we were friends, or at least friendly.”

She’s gone too far in her crusade to prove some point to herself. She puts a hand to Kara’s shoulder, who flinches from the touch slightly. “I’m just trying to not let the lines get blurred.”

Kara meets her eye with some caution “We still have two rules that we haven’t broken. And that I want this to be exclusive. No feelings, no telling people. No risking infections. Those are pretty clear lines. Everything else,” Kara makes a dismissive gesture “Isn’t worth stressing about.”

Lena isn’t entirely convinced, but the earnest look that Kara has is weakening her brittle resolve. “Okay. Then I’ll be honest, if I wasn’t covered in whatever this is, I would want to continue the hike.”

“It’s mud and mulch.” Kara leans down for Lena to hop on her back, Lena chuckles to herself and puts the muddy foot up first, then latches onto her. “The mulch is left behind because Mon-El wanted to plant some grass out here, get more critters to hang out.”

It’s silent as Kara easily carries her back to the house.

Lena has a few different questions she wants to ask, so she decides to ask the less serious one. “How do you talk about him without, feeling… awful?”

That’s not the question she meant to ask.

She can feel the tightening of Kara’s shoulders “Sometimes it’s like he died yesterday. Other times, I only think back on the good, how he made me feel, how he looked at the world. As time passes, I think of the good more often.” She exhales, and Lena is firmly aware that she isn’t the only weight Kara is carrying “Plus therapy.” Kara laughs “That stuff works.”

Jack, she wants to talk about Jack. Ask how she’s supposed to get over that when it was barely even _re_ starting, when she’s not even sure if they would have made it. The ‘what ifs’ clouding her thoughts as much as his death. But the house is within view already, making Lena see the pitiful distance they really made.

Kara sets her down on the deck, and Lena makes to go inside.

Kara stops her “Not so fast. My house isn’t as fancy as yours, but that doesn’t mean I’m gong to let you track mud in.”

Lena kicks her shoes off, and mud oozes out. “Okay.” She sees Kara is going to somewhere at the side of her house.

“I didn’t get a lot of gardening done this year, glad I get to use this.” 

“Wait!”

Kara laughs maniacally as she sprays Lena’s feet and legs with a water hose. “No.” She smiles as Lena avoids the cold spray in an awkward dance.

Once Lena is thoroughly drenched, Kara shuts it off. Lena leans back against the railing of the deck “I deserved that I suppose.”

Kara smiles “Not really, I would have sprayed your feet either way. That was mostly for fun.”

Lena strips her socks and pants off “Do you know if it’s going to rain tonight?”

Kara comes just close enough, and Lena whips her in the face with one of the soaked socks.

Something competitive surfaces in Kara’s gaze “I don’t think you know what you’ve done.”

Lena smiles and runs into the house, jumping up the stairs frantically.

“There’s nowhere to go Lena!” Kara is already getting close, and sounding like an axe murderer. 

Bathroom? She runs to it and tries to lock the door.

Kara opens the door and closes it behind her “No locks in this house.”

Lena backs up, and an arm shoots out to steady her. She looks back and sees she almost ate it into the bathtub. “You’re a life saver.”

Kara has her arms wrapped around Lena’s waist “Want to take a bath?”

Lena wipes some mud from Kara’s face with her thumb “You’re dirtier than me right now.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Lena kisses just below the streak of mud “Yours.”

Kara seats her on the edge of the bath and starts it. “That takes about ten minutes to fill up.”

Lena laughs, knowing what they’re going to do in that time.

..

She’s left Kara about as legless as Lena usually is.

Lena is pressed against her, feeling every crevice of muscle dig into her and let her know that she’s being taken care of. “You’re fun.”

Kara is still sporting a far off look “You too.” Kara manages her way off the bed “I can’t carry you there.”

“It’s been ten minutes?”

“Yup, hop in, I’m grabbing us wine.”

Lena follows with her own rubbery legs “I drove here.”

“When do you not sleep over?” Kara calls back over her shoulder.

It’s not a bad point.

Lena settles into the warm water, dropping in a bath bomb. The suds are the pleasant blue of a clean lake. The warmth is encompassing and friendly, and she’s dangerously close to dozing off when Kara comes back in.

“No drowning in my bathtub please. The stories would be unbearable.”

She looks to the two wine glasses, the bottle of wine, and the naked figure standing over her. “You’re really comfortable in your own skin.”

Kara sinks into the water across from her “You should be too.” The water splashes as she settles in and offers Lena her glass of wine.

Lena swirls it around in the glass, making Kara laugh.

“It’s not that fancy.”

“This makes it taste better.” She smirks at Kara and takes a sip “Even if it’s cheap.”

Kara takes a drink of her own “I just said it wasn’t fancy.” She takes another, deeper, drink of her glass. “Like what we’re about to do isn’t.”

Lena finishes her glass and leans back “You really have a talent for talking dirty without using dirty words.”

Kara already has a hand working where it needs to “Why bother then?”

The novel of comebacks are unimportant when Kara has her feeling this good.

..

Water sloshes over the side of the tub as Lena feels full in the way that only Kara can manage.

The tub is draining around Lena as she lays unmoving in Kara’s arms. The arms that she may honestly be obsessed with.

Kara leans down and kisses her cheek “I may be gone by the time you’re awake. Hope you can fend for yourself.”

Lena moves her head and gets the kiss she was hoping for “You alright with me sullying your kitchen with my attempts at cooking?”

Kara shrugs, and carries Lena to the bedroom for more of the same, and some rest.

..

Her dreams are good, all of them are brought on by Kara, but some don’t involve her. Some are of her mom and dad getting along, laughing under their Christmas tree when it still meant something to be a family. In this dream, she’s younger, when things could have gone better with her parents.

When she wakes, she realizes it was a memory. She turns to snuggle into the warmth that will be waiting beside her, and finds nothing.

Kara did say that she would be gone in the morning. She finds herself grumpy, regardless of the warning.

In a morning of realizations, it comes to her. She sleeps better with Kara, a _lot_ better.

Lena hops in the shower and uses whatever appears to be the least used, deliberately not wanting to smell like Kara. She seriously debates not wearing the shirt Kara provided, then a chill runs up her spine, the beginning of winter making itself known, and she puts it on.

The kitchen has a pan, and the ingredients for an omelette set up. Lena breaks, and finally checks her phone.

 **_Kara Danvers:_ ** **Couldn’t help myself :)**

There’s a picture attached.

It’s of her, sleeping, looking peaceful, face absent of the stress lines that usually mark it. The picture is annoyingly good, and it further cements that she sleeps better with Kara.

Suddenly, she isn’t so cold.

She sets the stove top to a decent temperature and lets the omelette prepare for what she’s sure will be a horrible attempt at folding it. Some movement on a table catches her eye, when she gets closer, she sees it’s one of those digital picture frames that goes through an album. The pictures are of a life lived with who she assumes is Mon-El, visiting different countries, cooking together, loving each other. A cheesy photo of them pushing their engagement rings together is what finally makes her look away.

Somehow, she doesn’t botch the omelette, and eats it with swirling emotions, she feels like an intruder, a rebound, a replacement.

 _But_ she reminds herself, all she’s supposed to be is a friend, and a fuck buddy.

She rinses her things and drives home after fiddling with the lock on the front door enough that it looks like she’s trying to break in, not that anyone would be there to see it. With that thought, she feels comfortable leaving the house. 

When she’s home, she notes that she doesn’t own any long sleeve shirts like Kara’s. Keeping it on is just practical.

With Winter finally making everything cold in the way that it tends to, she decides a winter coat or two is in need. She decides on a store nearby, needing something to maintain image, but not wanting to travel for it.

As she walks into a boutique, the lady at the front looks at her hesitantly, eyeing her chest in a way that usually means someone is checking her out.

“Oh.” The woman exhales “Sorry Ms. Luthor, I thought-“

“I’m not looking my best, I know.” Kara’s shirt isn’t quite up to the standards of the store, and she’d be worried about accidentally offending Edna if a several thousand-dollar purchase wasn’t about to take place.

Edna puts her in something form fitting and sleek. She half buttons it on her way out, not needing the complete insulation.

..

The next day, her phone buzzes.

 **_Kara Danvers:_ ** **Going for that Shia Labeouf look?**

She’s supposed to be setting up the promo package for the fight tonight. Lena excuses herself from the media room and calls Kara. 

She can hear Kara’s smile “I’m seeing you tonight, what’s the rush?”

Lena smiles and leans against the media room door, feeling a weird relief at hearing her voice “What makes you so sure about that?”

“Well, if I’m talking about _that_ ,” Kara’s tone is hushed, like she’s already feeling something from the idea “I’d do just about anything to make sure it happens.”

Lena sighs, needing that touch “How do you make flustered hot?”

“I think we just… fit together. Like Mxy said, we have chemistry.”

She takes a moment to compose herself “Well now I’m definitely seeing you tonight.”

“First, you’re seeing me tonight because I’m attending the fights. _In a seat far, far away from you._ ” Lena blushes at the memory of when that distance wasn’t there. “And second, I’m actually busy pretty late tonight. And you’re there too.”

“Huh?” Lena checks her emails and sees the subject line she usually ignores.

**Very Important lil Lena**

An email from Lex that’s actually relevant, and he didn’t bother to call. She skims it, blah blah blah.

There it is.

Attending Mardi Gras Club and Bar: Lena Luthor, Sara Lance, Laurel Lance, Nia Nal, Kara Danvers, and camera crew. (open slot for Sam Arias).

Mardi Gras of Thea Queen fame.

Kara has been talking through the phone the whole time that Lena has been sinking in shock. “Sorry, I missed every word after you told me that.”

“I was just saying that Lex probably wanted to drop it on you, because…”

Lena smiles “He’s kind of a dick.”

“You said it, not me.”

Lena stops leaning against the door, and starts to walk down the hallway. “What was the Shia Labeouf thing about?”

Her phone buzzes, and she sees a picture of herself bundled against the cold, Kara’s shirt showing clearly with the red stitched heart over the breast, the whole look is very practical, second hand expensive.

“You look good in my shirt.”

Lena runs anxious fingers through her hair “I do intend on returning it.”

“It’s okay, it suits you. It’s from a heart cancer run I did, makes you look supportive.”

She won’t admit it, but she’s glad to be keeping the shirt. “Hey I meant to ask, what’s the full story with Maggie and Alex?”

Silence. Lena worries she’s overstepped. “Well, her and Alex were engaged, pretty shotgun, but _wow_ , the way they were with each other was electric. Alex wanted kids, and Maggie didn’t feel the same way.”

“And you two?”

“Me and Maggie were tight before, and then she moved from National City, from, well from their relationship. So… not anymore.”

“That’s awful Kara, I’m so sorry.”

A long inhale on the other end “What can you do? If two people don’t want the same thing, then they shouldn’t be together. It’s sad, but good in the long run.”

“True.” Lena responds, feeling how underwhelming her response is.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

Lena laughs at the change in subject “As if we’d let this get in the way of sex.”

“That’s not-” Kara sighs “Alex is getting impatient, I have to let you go.”

She’s not completely sure where she misstepped, but she knows that’s Kara’s version of unhappy. Whatever, they aren’t dating. If a friend was feeling this way… Lena sighs, she would still check on them.

..

The venue is so rundown that she ends up nursing a rum and coke in the lighting room up to the first of the audience coming in, just to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

“Lena.” Ralph is giving her ‘the’ look.

“Okay.” She relaxes “You guys have it handled.”

He smiles and flicks a switch, starting the ambient music “Yes, yes we do. Go have fun.”

She finishes her drink and heads out to the mayhem of her own creation. People are flooding in, probably to see Constantine. They can’t top bill him, but Lex requested that he get the most promotional attention.

Lex motions for her to sit, and she makes her way to her seat, daring another look to where Kara is supposed to be. Lena sits next to Lex and finally sees Kara, who throws a wave her way.

She sinks in her seat, relaxed that Kara isn’t holding a grudge over whatever Lena did wrong.

Lex is prattling on about the sales, that he doesn’t want to outright encourage fighters to yell at him, but likes them using Constantine’s callout regardless.

Kara is having an animated talk with Nia, and she wishes she was there, or that her friends were here so that they could talk about something other than the company. Nia makes a gun gesture and fires at Kara, who slumps in her seat like she’s dead.

“Vandal Savage versus Mick Rory!”

She turns to the front and realizes she’s missed some of the fanfare.

Lex whispers “This is where the rankings mess things up, Mick really shouldn’t be up against this guy, pornstar name Vandal is going to wreck him.”

“Pornstar name?” Lena giggles “Seriously Lex?”

A bell rings, and Round One begins.

Vandal has a cocky look on his face, like he knows that he’s better than this.

Rory approaches with his hands high, and ducks Vandal’s opening punch. Rory smiles and turns the duck into a gut punch, Vandal slumps into the punch and takes another to the face, and another, and another. Vandal goes down with Rory throwing punch after punch into his fast swelling face.

The ref steps in, and the fight is over before its started.

Lex stands, clapping and cheering with the rest of them “HOLY SHIT!”

Stunned, Lena stands with him “That’s a good thing?”

“This gets people paying attention to every fight now, of course it’s good.” He pumps his fist in the air and smiles for a camera “Vandal doesn’t test well, plus Rory being a quip machine, equals more money.”

They sit with the rest of the crowd as Barney comes out to interview Rory, Vandal being led out behind them to be looked at.

“Rory, I think as much as anyone I’m shocked by this win.”

Rory grunts in his signature way “Really thought shorty could beat me?”

Barney leans back to hide the amusement on his face “Well _Shorty_ is known for ending fights about as fast as you managed to end this one.”

“Yeah, I’m smarter than I look. We done here?”

Barney laughs this time “I guess we are.”

Rory stalks off, looking pleased with himself.

With the intermission starting, Lex is already starting to get up, Lena holds him back.

“Lex. Why the hell am I doing some bar social with the girls?”

“Lena.” He removes her hand from his chest “We have to cover all the bases, and this is a two for one. Kara gets up to the fight with Sam, it adds to the documentary, she doesn’t get that far, and there’s footage of a good bunch of the girls.”

It’s a valid idea, the only problem she has with it is of her own making. “Okay. That, that actually makes sense.”

“As my plans often do.” With that, he’s walking away.

She stands “Since when do you plan out my social life?” She calls after him.

He turns on his heel, and continues to move backwards, people moving out of his way “Since I let you do the female empowerment thing.” He does a mocking salute.

_Fucker_

_.._

“J’onn Constantine versus Rip Hunter!” 

With another rum and coke in hand, she’s just in time to see if their light show is working.

Constantine’s requested mix of God Save The Queen and occultic imagery was just squeaked past the sensors, and is flashing beautifully as they hype him up on his way out.

He has that same look he usually sports, where he’s somewhere between ghastly and possessed with focus. Constantine makes the octagon his own and gives a cocksure smile to the crowd, ebbing with that confidence he’s known for.

Rip comes out to a regular rendition of God Save The Queen, a bright smile on his face over Constantine parodying his usual walkout song.

They’re sharing a smile at Rip being a good sport about it, and even touch gloves as Round One begins.

Lena looks over to Kara and Nia literally on the edge of their seats, then back to Lex, who’s equally into it. She needs friends that actually enjoy this, not that Lex isn’t good company, he usually is, he’s just so painfully self sufficient. And as much as she’d like to ignore it, or push it down, she needs people. Just when she’s about to make the monumentally stupid decision to reach for her phone, the round ends.

“As long as our main card doesn’t botch it, this is going to rake in views.” Lex notes, ever the business man.

Instead of typing something to Kara, which would just be a way to further blur their already weird dynamic, she types a message to Lucy.

 **_Lena:_ ** **When are you coming back to National City?**

She has her phone halfway in her pocket when it buzzes.

 **_Lucy:_ ** **In a few weeks if everything works out, I’ll let you know**

 ** _Lena:_** **Good luck**

With a smile on her face, she sits back down, satisfied that her best friend is going to be back in town.

Constantine kicks into Rip’s chest, and Rip drops his guard in pain. She can see Constantine’s smirk before his punch even registers, knocking Rip out with a clean jab.

She chooses to stay in her seat between fights.

The Slade and Rene Ramirez fight isn’t one she’s particularly looking forward to, having a feeling it’s going to be one of those Slade trademarked beatdowns that take some of the sport out of things.

As it starts, she excuses herself to grab another drink, drunkenness trying to leave her. She makes her way to the now uncrowded bar and sits, watching Slade and Rene trade punches on a TV. Rene is faster, but Slade is horrifically effective with each punch that lands. She hears an unmistakable laugh.

“Might as well pregame for that business, right?” Kara slams her drink to the bar.

“With a Luthor there, I may need a few more drinks.” _Nia_

Lena shrinks up, sipping her drink in a feeble attempt to hide her face.

“Hey,” Kara has a defencive tone “Lena is nice.”

Lena smiles and motions for her drink to get topped off. It’s not snooping if they’re loud, so she continues to listen.

“You banging your boss?”

Lena resists the urge to spit her drink.

Kara laughs it off “Do I look stupid to you?”

There’s silence, and she can imagine an incredulous look on Nia’s face.

“Do I look _that_ stupid to you?” Kara corrects.

“I suppose not. Do you think I’ll like her?”

A pause “Yeah. She’s fun, smart without being off putting, good friend… Not as good as you though.”

Some movement that sounds like drunken wrestling is what she hears as she finishes her topped off drink.

“Sounds like you would date her,” Nia comments between gulps of breath.

“I’d say the same thing about you.”

“Uh huh, Except I’m straight.”

Lena can hear a chair being pushed back from the bar, and Kara letting out a huff of breath “I’ll admit it, if she wasn’t my boss, I’d think about it. But she’s my boss, and… I don’t know if I’m ready for something like that.”

“Alright. Do you know if Barney is single?”

Kara laughs, and her voice is growing nearer “Let’s go see Rene lose.”

Lena tries to nonchalantly put her phone to her ear as Kara and Nia pass, hoping that if they spot her, they’ll leave her alone out of social convention. They pass with shared words and laughs, leaving her to have another drink in solitude.

She watches Slade drop Rene with a cracking punch, and all she can think of is how much she needs Lucy back in town.

..

She’s a few drinks deeper when Kara saddles up at the bar next to her.

Lena turns to her with a smile. “Ready to get drunk in front of cameras?”

Kara is already rosy cheeked. She smiles back, opens her mouth, then looks around before leaning in “I do a lot more in front of a camera usually.”

Lena bursts out laughing.

Kara smiles coolly at her “I just meant fighting, get your mind out of the gutter.”

“Kind of hard to when we dive in the gutter together so often.”

Kara is about to lean in for more of their risky talk when Nia strolls up.

“You really can bring out the cheerful in anyone Kara.”

Lena realizes she’s the ‘anyone’ “She can be convincing.”

Nia finishes Kara’s drink “Alright, some fun times need to be recorded, let’s get to it.”

If on the way to the car, Kara leans into Lena once or twice for drunken support, she doesn’t particularly mind.

They spill into the car, and she’s unsurprised to see that Sam couldn’t be bothered to join, even with the promise of a limo and free alcohol.

Sara and Laurel Lance are out of the sunroof before the car has even started, and Mxy is failing to stifle a laugh at the sight. She’s next to Kara, and can feel the warmth of her legs, the warmth she needs to have pressed into her-

“Lena!” Sara is down from the sunroof “I didn’t take you for the partying type.”

“Well,” Lena grabs the bottle of tequila “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” She smiles at Sara “I’m good at avoiding cameras.” She looks to the camera and winks before pouring shots for everyone. The car starts to move.

The cameraman tries to refuse, and Sara looks up at him pleading eyes “Unless you’ve _quit_ , you have to join.”

The cameraman takes the shot squeamishly, but earns some respect on the basis that he did it. Mxy refuses “I used to get weird around women, act like I was magic.” He holds up a hand with a ring on it “Don’t think the wife would appreciate that all too much.” This makes Lena realize that his obsession with Kara is probably professional, and that he’s not as caught up in her as Lena is becoming.

The rest of the car takes their shots eagerly. The fire in her stomach keeps her from being too thirsty about Kara being so touchable and so untouchable at the same time.

Nia is talking to Sara and Laurel about Sara planning on dethroning Sam, tactfully avoiding the elephant in the car that is if Sam loses, Kara faces Laurel next.

That leaves her to talk with Kara. How much are they ‘supposed’ to know about each other?

Kara links her arm with Lena’s, and she blames the shaking of the car for how it makes her feel secure “What’s up boss friend?”

Lena links her arm back “That my new name?”

“Welllll,” Kara rolls her eyes at Mxy “You are both, aren’t you?”

“I’m hardly your boss. I don’t decide who fights, I don’t decide salary, I just make everything run smoothly.”

“As you’ve said a _million_ times.” Kara looks at Mxy “Literally every time I make a boss joke with her, she just tells me about how she’s not my boss.”

Lena nudges Kara with her knee “That’s an exaggeration.”

“Look at that, I think she’s scared to be my friend.”

_Or of someone finding out the specifics of our friendship_

The car stops before Kara can say anything damning.

Lena is out first, needing a break from the claustrophobia of the secrets she’s keeping. The club _Mardi Gras_ is already booming by the time that they show up, Mxy nods at the bouncer, and they’re let in before the stretch of people waiting outside. She’s always wondered why they wouldn’t just go to a different club when lines are this bad.

Inside is a wall of people who look absolutely possessed by the music that’s bumping. She takes a look at some overly large pupils and realizes the ‘possession’ is really just drugs.

“Me and Thea used to rule these places.” Sara is beside her, looking up at all of the lights.

Lena laughs, and has to raise her voice to be heard above the chaos “I always forget that you three grew up together.”

Sara puts up two fingers to the bartender who pours for them immediately, apparently a regular “Oliver used to be big here too. Small world.” She drags Laurel away to have whatever it is they usually have.

Kara excuses herself to the washroom, and Lena is left with Nia. They both make an effort to seem friendly and go to the bar together.

“So.” They both start, then laugh.

Lena orders a shot of tequila, wanting to stay somewhat consistent with her liquor intake. “How do you and Kara know each other?”

“Well, her cousin is a reporter like me. He actually used to-“

Kara comes between them, animatedly swinging her arms, her _damn_ arms “Hi. Glad to see you two getting along.”

Nia takes her shot “Anyways, Clark used to fight for you guys.”

Lena stares into the crowd of people, and sees Mxy recording them “Kara, can we step somewhere more quiet?”

Kara nods and follows Lena through the busy club.

Maybe it’s the liquor, maybe it’s finally knowing what that happy go lucky attitude reminds her of, and maybe, just maybe, she likes that Kara thought she’d care.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” Kara is trailing behind, too polite to elbow through like Lena.

Lena finds what she needs, a photo booth. Lena sits inside of it and leaves the curtain open.

“Wow, I can’t believe they’d keep something like this in a club. Must be disgusting.”

The thought didn’t really cross her mind, and she’s too focused to stop now. “Come inside.”

Kara listens after a beat, and sits beside Lena. “I really have been meaning to tell you, I just know how pissed Lex was, and I…”

While she’s stammering, Lena closes the curtain and presses a hot kiss to Kara’s mouth to shut her up “I usually hate secrets, but I already knew, and I agreed with what he said. And. He’s. Not. You.”

Kara kisses her back, sighing into the kiss and feeling at Lena’s hair with reverent hands. Then she pulls away, and Lena almost wants to stomp her feet. “Wait, rewind and explain all that.”

Lena leans back against, what is _most definitely_ an under washed photobooth. “Clark’s article aired a lot of grievances I’ve had with Lex’s management myself, he just made it sound better, and wasn’t a dick about it. Our stock took a small hit, but then bounced and exceeded normal expectations when we actually made the changes.”

“Wow.” Kara takes her hair out of the bun she’s had it in and lets her hair spill out over her shoulders “Let’s get back to the other stuff then.”

Lena, against the part of her screaming to just do it, raises a hand to stop her. “We can’t be _that_ obvious.” Lena swipes her credit card on the machine -making a mental note to check for fraud in the morning- and it starts a timer to take pictures.

They move close and meld in their frantic push, mouth meeting mouth, hand scratching back, tongue finding tongue. It’s electrifying, the buzzing alcohol in her head making the kiss wetter, scratches more yearning.

A beep breaks her from Kara.

“Oh.”

“My gosh.” Kara finishes, the worshipping look on her face excusing the frankly annoying lack of even the slightest swear word.

Lena looks at the pictures that have developed, noticing that while _very_ hot, they both look halfway to sex drunk by the end. “Shit. I can’t go out looking like this.”

“We could just stay in here until they kick us out.” Kara slurs the suggestion.

“I have a hail Mary.” Lena pulls her phone out and calls Thea.

The music that’s bumping outside of the photobooth is duplicated on Thea’s end “Lenaaaa!”

“Thea, Thea. Are you at Mardi Gras?”

She can hear the slurp of a drink “Yes ma’am.”

Lena looks at Kara’s somewhat more sober, and tenfold more concerned face “I need you to get the DJ to play something ridiculous.”

“Like what?”

“Remember when you dated that DJ?”

“Ugh do we really need to bring up Chase?”

Lena laughs, even with her nerves on fire from more than Kara “This is a small favour, tell the guy to play it for fifteen seconds and then play his best track, give him a hundred. Do anything, just help me out.”

“This is so out of character for you, but whatever.”

She stares at her phone, watching a minute tick away, then another minute.

Then it’s pounding through the club, the worst song she’s ever heard. She peeks out, and sees that everyone is turning to look at why there’s seemingly random noises playing in place of music. She pockets the photos, to keep the evidence out of public hands of course, and the two of them escape the photo booth unscathed.

Lena puts some fake distance between her and Kara, and looks around to make sure everyone is still distracted while she fixes her hair.

All good- _oh fuck_. Thea is staring at her, beaming the most shit eating grin she’s ever seen.

The song transitions into a hard hitting song that gets the club jumping and dancing again, the thirty seconds of nonsense soon forgotten.

Lena power walks to the bar and orders a round of shots for herself and the Lance sisters. Avoiding Kara and Thea for the rest of the night.

..

She steps outside into the crisp night air feeling more sober, and feeling like there’s enough footage of them all talking and being drunk to make a documentary of its own. Kara sees Nia off, sparing a look Lena’s way. Kara almost heads over, then makes a show of stopping and going on her phone.

 **_Kara Danvers:_ ** **Separate cabs to your place?**

Lena nods and gets into the cab that was taking her home either way. 

There’s a certain rush with knowing they got away with it. Thea though, Thea saw. Maybe she was drunk enough to not remember. This doesn’t technically break any of the rules they set out. She didn’t _tell_ Thea, she just noticed.

“We’re here Ms.”

Lena shakes her head and pays. “Sorry, I was just daydreaming.”

The cabbie chuckles “It’s two in the morning, think it’s just dreaming at this point.”

His point is heard but unappreciated, she wishes him a good night and gets out. Then almost runs into someone. “Oh, sorry.”

“Don’t we usually wait til we’re behind closed doors for you to crash into me?”

_Kara_

She’s glassy eyed, blue fighting to stay focused. Lena stumbles into her, not doing much better herself. She tries to lead Kara in, but Kara is staying put.

“Isn’t, shouldn’t I come in the staff entrance?”

She should “I don’ care.”

..

In the elevator, their hands are entwined. It’s intimate, and she doesn’t want it to stop. They make it to Lena’s room, and Kara kisses her outside of the door.

When Kara breaks the kiss, she has a look on her face that’s appreciative and shocked, like she can’t believe what she’s seeing “You’re so beautiful.”

Lena turns the door handle and pushes into Kara to open it, the feeling of their bodies together more than she knows what to do with. They kick off their shoes and fall into bed together, kissing lazily, the sloppiness from exhaustion and drunkenness rather than any kind of rush. With Kara’s hands working the stress from her scalp, she falls asleep.

..

She wakes up with Kara breathing softly into her pillow, hair covering her face and a hand twisted in the fabric of Lena’s dress.

Lena jolts awake.

Kara slept over without sex… it’s weird, different, and brings a lot of questions flooding in.

_Why do I sleep so much better with her? Why does it matter?_

She focuses on the second one. She would let a friend sleep over, especially one that has such a far drive. That does something to occupy her mind, the more aware part of her working on the first question while she ignores it as best she can. A shower with loud music, terrible cooking, getting dressed for the day. She makes some actually okay scrambled eggs and walks over to wake the object of her questions.

“Kara?”

She doesn’t know why she thought whispering would work when her banging around in the kitchen didn’t do anything.

“Kara!”

She makes a noise of protest and flutters her eyes open, looking devastatingly gorgeous. “Morning.”

Lena almost has to look away as Kara stretches up into a sitting position. She hands over the bowl of scrambled eggs and smiles, trying for nonchalant.

Kara takes the bowl and digs in immediately, halfway done before looking up at Lena “A stunning woman giving me breakfast in bed, how did I ever get so lucky?”

“Looking how you do definitely helps.” _Why did I say that?_

Kara rolls her eyes “I know you like me Lena, you don’t have to try so hard to avoid it.”

To avoid _that_ she takes a picture of Kara looking out the window.

Kara turns to the sound of the clicking camera “Do I get to see all of the pictures you have of me now? They must be stacking up at this point.”

It’s become a photo album “Nope.” 

Kara showers and Lena almost considers giving her the pictures from last night, but the photo booth has gotten something that only Kara seems to be doing to her lately. She looks at ease, the lines of concentration aren’t hard, they’re on her face because her and Kara are in this moment together.

She puts the pictures into the photo album she won’t admit to, and comes out in time to see Kara shifting weight from foot to foot at the front door.

“Thank you, for last night.”

Lena closes the distance and pecks Kara on the cheek “What are friends for?”

Kara barks out a laugh and blushes at the noise “On that note.”

And she’s gone.

..

Kara comes back that night, and the next. And then Lena goes to her place the next two nights. All they seem to have time for is their nighttime trysts, training and business keeping them on a schedule. Snow starting to salt the ground more and more each day.

“How was your day?” Between kisses.

Then regardless of the answer.

“Oh, does that make it any better?” After one of them is brought to bliss.

Kara is at her door, basically one of the staff for how often she uses their elevator. Lena pulls her in by the collar of her shirt, but Kara’s hand goes up.

Lena stops “Everything okay?”

The door shuts behind Kara, and she leans against it. “Tomorrow is Sam vs Sara.”

Lena thinks to all of the prep she’s been doing. “I’m well aware.”

“I’m having a viewing party at my house, and-“

“I think that’s veering into girlfriend territory.”

“ _And_ ,” Kara lightly shoves her “I’d appreciate if you could come after the fight to provide some stress relief.”

“Okay.”

“I’m scared to fight Laurel. I’ll have to train all winter for the fight, and, things will start to get really serious.”

Lena takes Kara’s coat off and brushes snow from the shoulders “Kara. If by some miracle the rankings change enough that you have to fight Kate, I still think you can handle it.”

Kara looks up at the ceiling and slouches into the door “I wanted to be serious with Kate, before I made it into the DEO, before I met Mon-El.” She adds quickly “She, uh… She didn’t feel the same way.”

“Ah. So, it’s not about Laurel.”

Kara shakes her head.

“I’ll get out of the stadium before anyone corners me as the authority on the female fighters.”

Kara laughs, wiping a tear from her eye “You’ve sort of given yourself that role.”

Lena shrugs and brings Kara in for what they do best.

..

She’s shivering under Kara’s touch.

“You cold?” Kara kisses her ear.

Lena feels the curve of her back with unsteady hands “Not if you get closer.”

With Kara asleep, Lena turns her head to watch the falling snow. It dawns on her then that they’ve been sleeping together all through Autumn. The milestone isn’t crazy, but she’s glad that she’s taken note of it. Staring too long at the falling snow is making her cold, making her think of telling her mom who she is, that she likes guys and girls, on a night just like this. How badly that conversation went-

She suddenly feels weird under Kara’s touch, shivering now on her own fault. Breathing through her panic attack is easier and harder with Kara so near.

Kara turns in her sleep “Hey there.” Kara threads her fingers through Lena’s hair. “Lena, Lena, Lena, it’s okay.” Kara presses her cheek into Lena’s, and the warmth is almost instant as she kisses a tear away.

“I’m sorry.”

Kara is still half asleep, but she manages to crinkle her eyes in some sort of smile “Hey, I was crying halfway in the door, let’s call it even.”

She nuzzles her way back into warmth “Even.”

..

Waking up with Kara next to her, she feels happy. “You’re a good friend Kara.”

“Hmm?” Kara gets up in bed and shows her body off in a stretch that goes on a little too long to be incidental.

Lena traces the lines of Kara’s abs “Thank you, for last night.”

Kara wipes sleep from her eyes then shoots Lena a disarming look “My pleasure.”

Lena keeps her gaze, willing herself not to look Kara’s hand creeping to her thigh “I meant more, the other part, after the sex.”

The hand stops “That’s just being decent.”

“I didn’t say stop.”

..

Kara is dressed and ready to leave “I’ll see you tonight?”

“Make sure everyone is gone.”

“No one is going to find out about us.”

Lena goes to find her camera in a feeble attempt at hiding her guilt over the Thea situation. The lack of texting means she probably got away with it… but with Thea it’s hard to tell.

Kara has amusement and impatience playing on her face, the kind of look that only… _fondness_ brings. Lena lines up the shot and takes several.

Kara has her hands on her hips, purse dangling with her movement “Are you stalling now?”

Lena responds by clicking for more pictures.

“Film is expensive.”

Lena looks above the camera “I have such limited time with my model.”

Kara sighs, failing as usual to hide her actual enjoyment “You see me all the time.”

The truth is slightly annoying “Ah, I’ll see you tonight.”

Kara clicks her heels and opens the door “Do you want me to save you any food?”

Lena takes another picture out of spite.

..

With Kara gone, Lena sets up her film to develop. A mix of nature and architecture shots are hanging, and with the Kara pictures now in a binder, the dark room looks less like something a stalker would have. She takes the ones worth keeping down and puts them into her less shameful binders, smiling at the poor illustration of a tree that Jack put on the nature one. It doesn’t bring her the usual pang of longing.

She opens it and sees a shot of Lucy leaning against a tree.

“Oh shit.” She pulls her phone out and calls Lucy in a clawing motion, remembering the conversation they had about Lucy moving back to National City.

“Your timing is impeccable.” She can hear the smile in Lucy’s voice.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy. Tell me the news.”

“Busy with your city hopping distraction?”

“Yes.” Lena grumbles “What’s the damn news?”

“I’m back in a week.”

Lena almost knocks some things over in the dark room in excitement, and decides her celebration is better in a spot without expensive things.

“Lucy,” She checks her living room for breakables “That’s FUCKING AMAZING!”

A quiet laugh comes through on the other end “I’m looking forward to seeing you too.”

“Have you changed your mind on going to fights?”

“Uhhh,” _oh no_ “Not really. Unless they’re out of town I’m not overly interested.”

“Ah. Well, there’s a few coming up that are downtown, so I’m taking that veiled no as a maybe.”

“I’ll take some convincing. I probably shouldn’t be on my phone this much if I want to impress my new boss.”

“Love ya Lucy.”

“Lots of love Lena.”

 **_Lucy Lane:_ ** **Get it? lolL = lots of love Lena**

She got it, it just isn’t funny.

..

Her day out is uneventful, she gets shooed off by the lights and management crews. ‘Don’t touch your masterpiece or you’ll smudge the paint’ being thrown around enough that she knows Lex is behind it.

..

She ends up feeding chipmunks and taking pictures of them at the park, smiling at the memory of Kara defending them. ‘chipmunks have never tipped over my garbage cans.’

Snow is falling in a light sprinkling, giving everything a white outline.

An old man laughs throatily from his spot on a short stone wall, and she looks up at him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt, just nice to see younger people doing what I used to.”

“Feeding chipmunks?” She’s a little wary of whatever this man is going for, generally wary of old people in general.

“I meant more the smiling about someone you might love. Feeding chipmunks is something for all ages.” He shakes his bag of peanuts for effect.

She goes a little closer, her guard lowered, but not down. “You’ve come here for a while then?”

“Right where you’re standing,” He points, like she isn’t aware of where she is “Is where I realized I wanted to get serious about the girl I was seeing.”

They fall into an easy chat, a few prying questions about who Lena was thinking of when she was smiling that she dodges, and a lot of pleasant interludes about changing times. 

“Would you mind if I took your picture?” Lena wants something to remember this by, and the man has a storied face.

“Only if you give out my name when you put it up in a gallery.” She thinks to tell him that the picture won’t go up anywhere, but decides against bursting his bubble “And if you tell me why.”

“Well, I’ve just enjoyed this chat, and you seem photogenic because you’re so at ease.”

“Ah you flirt, don’t tell my wife.”

That just cements her need to photograph him.

He’s consistent in his lack of care for the camera, and she has a feeling that some of the pictures of him are real winners, especially the one where he’s holding his brand new science fiction book with exasperation ‘can you believe that?’ written on his face.

“Old people are allowed to read new things.”

Lena laughs “I know, I’m not so young myself.”

“You’re what? Twenty something?”

“Thirty.” She corrects.

“You’ve got so much life in you, don’t talk like that.”

Her phone buzzes, and the man stands “You don’t have to leave, I can make them wait.”

He waves her off “My friends can’t, I’m already half an hour late for lunch.” Is his farewell.

She feels somehow lighter after the talk with him. They didn’t say much, but she feels calm.

Her phone buzzes again, reminding her of why the interaction had to end.

**Thea Queen**

She swipes to call back.

“Lena, it’s Felicity.” Thea is laughing in the background “When can we crash at your place?”

She’d completely forgotten that Roy is fighting tonight. “In half an hour. No sleeping over though,” She raises her voice “That means you, _Thea_.”

There’s a scramble for the phone that Lena laughs along to as she discards the rest of her peanuts in a garbage bin and begins her walk home.

“Hey,” Thea is breathless and her voice is echoing “I’m in a bathroom.”

“Congrats?”

“Can we talk about, you know?”

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about.” Lena lies.

“I saw you and Kara, and you both left at almost the exact same time. Don’t treat me like I’m stupid, just tell me when it started.”

Lena hits the crosswalk button like with enough force it will go faster, somehow allow her to avoid this interrogation. When a line of cars passes by, she admits defeat and sighs dramatically. “Beginning of Autumn.”

“Autumn does sound a lot nicer than Fall.”

She’s allowed to cross the street, and does so with a smile “It does.”

“That’s about as long as you and James were a thing.”

Part of her had acknowledged that “Yes. And it’s the same as that.”

“Where you pretend that you wouldn’t be interested in trying something?”

“Me and James would have never worked, even before he became my employee.”

“Employee is a bit of a stretch.” There’s a banging sound on Thea’s end “ _Thea let me in! You’re not even drunk yet and I’m already annoyed.”_

“Sounds like you have company.” Lena notes, almost at her building, and at her way out of this conversation.

“Okay. I admit we basically just slammed two action figures together with you and James. But you and Kara might actually have something if you try for it.”

“Neither of us wants _something_ , we agreed to friends with benefits and it’s working great.”

Thea sighs in defeat “Let me just act my age for a second and say, you two are cute together, so if it goes that way, don’t fight it too hard.”

“I’ll see you tonight.”

“ _We’re coming at eight_!” Is Felicity’s muffled goodbye.

Lena ends the call and makes it to her room, needing to decompress from what was supposed to be a relaxing walk.

She collapses onto her couch, barely able to muster the energy to order delivery. A quick text to the man at the front desk to bring it to her door and knock like a cop, and she’s able to doze off.

A pounding at her door wakes her from a weird dream where Kara, James, Jack, and her first crush are all making out with her at the same time.

She groggily takes the boxes from the doorman, mumbling her thanks and slipping him a twenty.

“Miss, that’s too much.”

“I insist.”

She closes the door and swaps the chopsticks for a fork, pushing noodles into her mouth in anticipation for the alcohol and the workout that Kara is going to put her through.

A splash of water to her face, a couple of tries at makeup, and she’s ready. With fifteen minutes to go, she packs an overnight bag, actually thinking ahead for once.

The plan: Uber out to Kara’s so that she doesn’t have to worry about any drivers, make sure they park down the road in case there’s any straggling guests at her place.

Without a solid reason, she’s packed for a few days. Maybe Kara will be free and they can make a weekend of it. She smiles at the thought and stuffs in Kara’s long sleeve as a cherry on top.

Another round of banging on her door lets her know that drinking time is nigh.

She grabs a bottle of wine and unscrews it on her way to the door, taking a large swig as Felicity and Thea come in.

..

They’re a few drinks deep.

“Hey.” Lena says to get the room’s attention “Shouldn’t we leave soon?”

Maybe ‘a few’ was an understatement.

“Who’s even the first fight?” Felicity asks, some of her drink dripping down her chin. 

Thea takes a shot and sucks air through her teeth “Who cares, let’s just go for Roy’s fight, then see Sara get her ass kicked.”

“I think she has chance to beat Sam.” Felicity stands and goes for the washroom “Oh wow, I’m drunk.” She spins on her heel right before she enters “If I’m gone too long, come and save me.”

The door clicks closed and Thea immediately locks her sight on Lena.

“Thea, I swear to god, no more about her.”

Thea tries to look nonchalant and only manages to look drunk “No. Before I came here, I told Roy I love him.”

In their extremely weird relationship, that’s a huge milestone. “Wow. What’d he say?”

“ _We’ve been living together for how long now_? _I have literally talked about kids, is this really the first time you’ve said that_?” Thea laughs, and Lena is on Roy’s side for this one “Then I had sex with him to shut him up.”

That explains why they were late getting here “Wait, you actually get to have sex with Roy before fights?”

Thea laughs, almost drops her drink, places her drink, and laughs again “K-“

Lena shushes her.

“Does -your girl- not let you have sex with her before a fight?”

Lena brought this on herself “No. I mean, we do things, but she won’t let me reciprocate.”

Thea smiles “You’re interesting. Can I see some of the pictures?”

“That wouldn’t be fair to Felicity. I mean, I don’t have pictures.”

“Felicity.” Felicity announces “Knows that you’re talking about Kara Danvers.”

Lena has half a mind to slap Thea “What the fuck?”

Thea springs from the couch to escape her wrath “I didn’t tell her. Jesus, don’t hit me.”

Felicity saunters over “I’m not stupid Lena, I’m actually quite smart. And you left your Uber linked to my account.”

“Then you’re a snoop.”

Felicity opens her phone and shows the string of trips to Kara’s. “Barry has been there quite a few times. And getting a pop-up notification on _my_ phone, and reading it, is hardly snooping.”

“God damnit.” Lena sinks into the couch, considering ending things with Kara now for how bad she’s kept the secret. “That’s another rule broken.”

Thea and Felicity are back on the couch, seemingly over their fear.

“You guys have rules?” Felicity asks, not a hint of innocence in her voice.

Thea pokes Felicity “I still want to see the pictures, I know you have pictures.”

There really isn’t any way around it “Vow of silence. I still might end things regardless, but please don’t ruin her career.”

Thea puts her hands to Lena’s shoulders “Don’t end things, we were going to find out no matter what. Nia and Barry will find out in a month or so guaranteed, they’re just slower on the uptake.”

She’s willing to consider that as a possibility. “Okay. I’ll grab a few that I know she wouldn’t mind.”

She goes into the binder, _the binder_ , filled with pictures of Kara and then looks to the hanging pictures. The last ones that she took just to make Kara leave are, _wow_ , they’re stunning. She picks one of those, and then at random takes two from their hiking trips.

There’s no word for it except ogling. They’re ogling the pictures of Kara.

“Wow. I don’t even like girls and I’d consider it.”

“You guys go hiking?”

“Her arms are ridiculous in this.”

That comment almost starts her on some salivating rant about Kara’s arms, but she reels herself in. “Are you satisfied?”

Thea is giving the pictures another look over “She’s literally the hottest girl you’ve ever slept with.”

Lena covers her face with a pillow “Yes. I know. Please don’t ruin it.”

“The way she looks at you, don’t think we could manage.” Felicity says under her breath as she passes the photos back.

When Lena is putting the photos into her binder, she looks at the picture of Kara leaving again. Under close inspection, Kara has this beaming smile that’s only for Lena, it goes beyond the camera and makes her smile just looking at it. Lena stuffs the picture away and slams the door of her dark room.

“Let’s go!”

..

They come just as the break before Roy’s fight has ended, filing into their seats and getting an annoyed glare from Lex.

“Finally decided to show up?”

Thea laughs “Everyone knows we’re here as n’ excuse to hangout with Lena and not get bitched out by our… significant others.”

Lex shoos her off “Your comebacks don’t work when you can’t even commit to the concept of a boyfriend.”

“Yeah, well, fuck you.”

“That’s better.”

Instead of mitigating the disaster that Thea and Lex having an intellectual spar is, Lena realizes she desperately has to use the washroom. She stands “It’s not just cheap alcohol that goes through you quick.”

On her way back, she makes the _choice_ to not look at her phone.

“DEMOOOOS!”

“Shit.” She hurries herself back to their seats in time for Winn to begin his speech.

“Roy Harper, Demos Sparks. This is the decider for who advances, who gets closer to Slade. Is this the story of Demos Sparks rising to become the new contender for the crown? Or Roy rising from his fall?” Winn lets the silence linger “Find out _right now_ , at DEO fight night 109!”

Winn vacates the stage, and the ref comes forward. “I want a clean fight boys.”

They nod.

Round One starts with flashy kicks from both of them.

Demos smiles and throws a punch into Roy’s chest, as Demos’ arm is springing back, Roy slams down on it with an elbow. Demos grimaces and distances himself from Roy, who seems like he’s out for blood.

Demos lands a punch on Roy’s head, and Roy punches up into his arm before it can get back again. And it keeps going, Demos’ weakness of slow punching being taken advantage of and giving Roy a frightening edge.

Demos’ right arm now hangs a little lower when he has his hands up to guard his face. Roy kicks him into the cage and follows it with a wave of punches. Demos is shrinking back into the cage, pressing it back as he gets punches in any spot that he can’t protect.

Lena’s eyes are glued to them “Tell Roy you love him more often.”

Roy steps back, springs up, and kicks Demos square in the face. Roy rushes Demos’ dropping figure, and the ref steps in.

At the same time that Roy seems to realize Demos is unconscious, the crowd erupts in cheers.

Thea is up, watching with hunger as Roy thanks his team, his ‘partner’, and his family.

She turns to Lena “Do you mind if I…?”

Lena sighs, then smiles “Go be in love.” She looks to Felicity, expecting her to leave too.

“I want to see what happens. Oliver even said he might-“

Oliver Queen is standing next to them with his hood up, looking a lot like when he used to fight. “Hi.”

Felicity shifts to Thea’s spot, and Oliver sits.

Oliver watches as the stage is cleared for the main fight of the night, then turns to Lena “Heard you weren’t a huge fan of our bed.”

“More like there was someone else’s bed that she preferred.” Felicity teases.

Lena exhales. It’s not revealing anything, but it’s still a soft spot for her.

“Been there.” Oliver jokes, not expanding on it.

..

Winn is wearing a bright purple suit, and his hair is more unkempt than usual “This is the moment DEO fans have been waiting for. This is the moment that _everyone_ has been waiting for. Sara Lance versus…” He pauses, like people don’t know who it could be “Sam Arias!”

Lena is slightly annoyed that his pause actually worked to build tension.

Sara comes out to a remix of a Girl in Red song. It’s hilariously gay, and she’s proud of Sara showing such pride in her bisexuality, openness that Lena hasn’t quite mastered.

“Sara Lance is coming off of a hot streak, taking down her last three opponents by knockout.”

Sara is in her corner, her girlfriend Ava massaging her shoulders.

“This is Sara’s first chance to dethrone Sam and take the women’s bantamweight belt for herself.”

The whole venue goes dark. An ominous violin is rising in volume, and then Sam is walking out with a hood concealing her face, illuminated against the black. The violin transitions into a hard-hitting drum and each of her steps is made explosive as the drum picks up tempo, the lights go on, and Sam drops her hood to reveal a face of focused anger.

“Sam Arias is a woman who needs no introduction. Undefeated, the highest ranked pound for pound female fighter in the DEO, and one of the most frightening contenders the sport has ever seen.”

Sam is living up to the praise, face unchanging as she’s cleared to fight.

Round One starts with Sam smiling in a ghastly way. She basically walks up to Sara, dodging her punches with ease. Sam punches her in the face, then follows it up with a kick to the chest.

Sara takes it in stride, dodging her own fair share of punches.

Lena finds herself strangely excited as Sara lands a combo.

Then just as worried when Sara is taken to the ground by Sam. They scramble around each other, avoiding chokeholds and potential broken bones. It’s an aggressive dance to see who’s more slippery.

Round One ends, and Lena breathes out. “Jesus. That was intense.”

Lex pats her shoulder “More than I expected, if I’m being honest.”

She turns to Oliver, who’s watching Sara with intensity. “Oliver, what do you think?”

After a long moment of concentration, he speaks “Sara is going to lose in the next round.”

“What?” Felicity asks for the three of them.

“I think she might retire soon, her and Ava are real. She’s got that same look that I had when I married you. That can be as much a motivator as it is a reason to quit.”

Round Two is hard fought on both sides. Sam is bringing her force advantage down on Sara, and Sara is eating the punches like they’re nothing. Lena looks at Oliver’s face slightly tensing at each punch that rocks Sara’s body.

He exhales relief when Sam brings her into a chokehold, seeming to know even before Sara that the fight is over.

Sara taps.

As the crowd is going wild, Sam does her customary villain like monologue. She compliments Sara for making it to the second round, in what could be condescending or genuine, and walks off stage with her possie.

Sara shrugs at Barney’s question of how she feels “I mean, I have my side business of history curating with Ava, and I’m starting to think that’s the move for me. We’re engaged-“

The crowd explodes with cheers, and Sara rubs her head while looking at the crowd in an apologetic way “That’s not the way I planned to announce that, sorry dad.”

The camera pans to her dad, Quinten, who’s laughing with tears in his eyes.

“My contract ends with my next fight, so I’m either fighting my sister or Kara Danvers. Laurel, in the nicest way, I kind of hope you lose.”

Caught up in the fight in a way she hasn’t been in a while, she forgot about Kara.

Lena pulls out her phone and sees she wasn’t equally forgotten about.

 **Kara Danvers (1 Missed Call) 3 New Messages**

“Lex, can you run interference?”

He doesn’t bother looking at her “For your new plaything? Sure.”

She thinks to defend Kara, then decides calling an Uber is more important.

Lena calls an Uber to her house, and comes outside to a heavy falling snow. It collects on her coat, whipping into her face with the will of the wind. She shakes some of it off as she gets in the Uber.

Tapping on her leg in an impatient rhythm the whole ride as the snow melts is her chosen way to pass the time.

Having probably thoroughly annoyed the driver, she gets out and picks up her bag and her camera.

She calls another Uber, mentally thinking to change the joint accounts so that Felicity doesn’t know how much she’s seeing Kara.

She gets in the passenger side “I don’t know why I didn’t get in the back.” She quickly switches to the back door “I will give you fifty dollars if you break traffic laws and get me there quick.”

The woman looks at her with question through the rear-view mirror “Speeding tickets cost more than that.”

In the rush to get to Kara’s that she doesn’t want to classify or examine, she considers throwing her name around.

Instead, she throws her money around, “I’ll pay for the tickets if you get any.”

The woman looks hesitant. Grips the steering wheel, and speeds off.

Lena shoves sixty in her hands for the trouble, and rushes to the door.

She remembers her earlier plans to be cautious about Kara’s guests, and almost turns, the door opens, and an uncharacteristically stressed Kara silences those fears.

“I’m so happy you’re here.” Kara pulls her in, and they use their hands and mouths to calm anxiety as best they can.

They’re on Kara’s couch, as they often are. Lena tugs at Kara’s shirt, it’s still snug on her body despite all that they’ve done.

“Can you stay?” Kara whispers into her cheek.

Lena laughs and kisses down Kara’s jawline until she has her lips latched onto her pulse “You didn’t notice the bag?”

Kara looks over their entwined bodies “Ah. I was more focused on having your body against mine if I’m being honest.”

She can’t tell Kara that she wants to stay as long as she can, so she lets the moment sit.

“Uh.” _Here we go_ “I actually have three days off before I get seriously into training, then I’m in the city for a month, three days off. Then I’m off to Star City to train against Laurels fight style.”

Lena takes Kara’s shirt off, finally seeing every inch that she craves. “Three days here, you come over to my place when you’re free, then I find an excuse to visit Star City.” Shocked at how quickly she structured her life around Kara, she caresses her body as distraction. Using the person you may be becoming reliant on as distraction probably isn’t the best game plan, but the pleasant sensation between her legs is making an argument she can’t fight.

Kara has an irresistible smile on her face “Sounds like a plan.” She holds Lena’s hands and kisses them in a worshipping way “Bedroom?”

And who is she to say no? 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Domestic fluff and stuff

She wakes to the smell of coffee. When she sits up, she expects Kara to not be there, but she’s sitting at the foot of the bed with a mug of coffee in her hands, sipping at it contentedly.

Lena leans her back against the headboard that’s seen its fair share of abuse “None for me?”

Kara looks to the end table, and Lena sees a coffee already there.

“Ah. Did you-“

“One sugar.”

Lena sips at it and hums in satisfaction “How’d you know?”

Kara looks her up and down and smiles “When we ‘went for coffee’ that first time. And all the mornings after, you know.”

If she’d known then that things would end up like this… she wouldn’t change a damn thing. “I swear it really was just supposed to be coffee.”

Kara looks at her, seemingly satisfied to just be sitting with Lena. “I’m glad it wasn’t.”

She bites back the tender ‘me too’ that threatens to come out. “I’m sorry, that I’ve not kept things exclusive.”

“As long as they are now, I won’t be too broken up about it, I should have made that a rule.”

“They are. And they will be…” _Until_ and _if_ fight for dominance “They’ll be exclusive as long as this goes on.”

“Very diplomatic phrasing,” Kara notes “And okay, just no more secrets.” Kara puts her clothes on and opens the curtains, showing off the heavy snowfall.

Lena groans, and Kara has a look of mischief on her face. “What?”

“Have you ever been snowshoeing?”

Lena takes a gulp of her coffee, worried that this three-night sexcation is going to turn into an outdoorsy weekend.

Kara leans in to kiss Lena “Trust me. It’s not how you’re picturing it.”

Lena brings Kara closer, feeling her chest and thinking of how she can convince her to stay in.

Kara licks the shell of her ear “There’s chilli downstairs.” She ghosts a hand over Lena’s stomach, kisses her again, then steps back “Don’t leave me waiting.”

Lena hates that even watching Kara leave is giving her sinful thoughts. She wills herself to not stick a hand under the covers, and gets herself prepared for whatever Kara thinks constitutes fun, heading downstairs in an unready mood.

Kara has her coat draped over the chair she’s waiting in. “Aw, you wore my shirt.”

Lena blushes “I don’t have a lot of long sleeves, and-“

Kara motions her forward and seats Lena in her lap “I like it better on you.” She kisses the back of Lena’s neck “And I like you even better not wearing anything.”

Lena moves to kiss her, and Kara slides a bowl of chili her way.

It’s great, but she won’t admit it after being teased like that.

..

“We’re seriously doing this?”

Kara is strapping her into snowshoes with a smile. “Yup. Trust me, it’s not what you think.”

She leads Lena to a side of the forest that she’s not seen yet. They trudge through the snow, Lena struggling to grumble loud enough to be audible, but not obvious, over the noise of the snow that’s still dropping.

They make it to a clearing where trees are sparse, and there’s a host of long drops.

“Get your camera ready.”

“Kara, it’s snowing, I brought my phone.”

Kara nears the edge of the drop nearest to them “Use your phone then, it has a good camera.”

Lena whips at Kara with her scarf “A phone is no replacement for a film camera.”

“Do you want the shot of your life or not?”

She gets at least one of those a day with Kara. The thought is too deep for her comfort, so she steps back and frames Kara with her phone camera. “Make this worth it.”

Kara smiles “Anything for you.” And jumps.

Lena feverishly presses her camera as Kara drops down, then runs forward with the same fever. “Kara?” She looks down at the bottom of the drop, seeing nothing “Kara!”

A blonde head covered in snow pops out of the snow “Hey. Did you get the picture?”

“Um. Yes. What the hell was that?”

Kara is lifting herself out of the snow, grabbing her toque from where it landed. “This is the only fun way to go snowshoeing.”

Lena watches Kara climb up back to her, she reaches Lena and pulls her into a kiss that feels romantic.

“Don’t be so worried about me. I know what I’m doing.”

Lena breathes deeply into Kara’s shoulder, ignoring the relief she’s feeling.

“You ready to jump?”

Lena holds her at arms length “You’re delusional.”

“Give me the phone.”

Lena hands it over, somewhat worried that Kara will push her in.

Instead she scrolls through and smiles, then turns the phone to Lena. “You see that?”

It’s Kara looking like a laughing angel as her hair trails behind her, snow racing with her, a slight blur to the hat that’s already coming off. “You look amazing.”

“Aw,” Kara hands her phone back “You’ll make me blush.” She tucks some hair behind Lena’s ear “Jump. Take a risk.”

“Fuck it.” She throws her phone to Kara and leaps off into the snow. The fraction of a moment that she’s in freefall is exhilarating. Then she’s hip deep in snow. For that shining second of freedom, she felt like a little girl in the best way.

Kara makes her way down to the snow heap and helps her up “That’s my idea of snowshoeing, in case you ever think to doubt me again.”

Lena kisses her and pushes them into a tree, working her tongue to Kara’s and sucking into a moan. “Never.”

Kara has to restrain Lena to get her to stop. “Want to continue that? Or for me to get a picture of you jumping off another one?”

“Is both an option?”

Kara pushes Lena’s sleeve up and kisses her wrist “One can be done after the other, but once we get inside, I have a feeling that we’re not going to leave again.”

She’s probably right. “Okay, take me to a good one and use those photography skills you’ve been absorbing.”

“I mostly just accidentally model.”

“And you do it so well.” She’s saying clingy things, so she marches forward into the cold, hoping it’s the right way. Kara surpasses her easily and smiles, pointing to where they need to go. “How do you keep such a good mood?”

Kara stops, then continues “I get angry too.”

It’s hard to imagine “I know, but, so often you’re happy, and I… How do you manage it?”

“I learned the hard way how to set boundaries with people who need help. I don’t make everyone’s problems my own anymore, and just help where I can.”

“Very Zen.”

“Buddhists actually invented some martial art styles.”

“You’d look good in a monk robe.”

Kara stops at the next drop and breathes out in a white cloud “I look good in everything.”

Lena’s knees are weak from more than the walk.

Kara steps back, still having Lena’s phone, and gives her a thumbs up.

Lena runs, and lifts off into a jump, there isn’t a hint of fear this time as she swings her arms out and lands in the snow. She jerks her way out of the snow, and huffs on her way up to Kara “Did you get it?”

“Yup.” She hands Lena the phone, showing her the annoyingly well framed shot.

“You’re actually pretty good at this.”

Kara bops her nose affectionately “I have such a good teacher, and she’s so easy to pay attention to.”

“Take me to bed immediately.”

“Screw that, snow shoes are heavy.” Kara is running away, legs moving in a hilarious lack of coordination “Come get me!”

Lena gives chase, laughing the whole way as Kara kicks snow back at her.

When she makes it to the house -after stopping to catch her breath more than once- she sees that Kara is still caught in the straps of one of her snow shoes.

“What would you do if I wasn’t here?”

Kara looks up, concentrated face changing to amused “Bite my foot off?”

Lena leans down to unclasp Kara, and Kara meets her with a hungry gaze. “What’s up Kara?”

“The snow makes your eye’s look amazing.”

Lena is pushed down to the ground, and cold fingers are working down her pants.

“Kara.” The cold feeling turns warm, and Kara is so focused on her, snow pelting her back and colouring her blonde hair into something white “Kara you look so amazing, I love the way you look at me.” Building, building, her body craves Kara all the time. “I need you to look at me like that when I-“ She’s cut off by herself, and sinks into the snow, relief washing over her.

She’s somewhat aware of her snowshoes being taken off, only seeing this beautiful woman take care of her. “The snow makes you look so good Kara.”

Kara is staring at her with a mixed look that Lena can’t decipher either side of. She brings the snowshoes inside, then bridal carries Lena into the house. “You can take your own shoes off.” She sets Lena down.

This breaks her out of her Kara filled vision. “Uh, yeah.”

Kara shakes the snow off of herself, and starts to work on her hair.

“Wait.” Lena gets her shoes off and starts to pull frantically at her own winter wear “Leave the snow in your hair.”

Kara hands Lena her phone back, the phone that she’d admittedly forgotten about, she takes it and throws it on Kara’s counter “So you can take a picture?”

“That’s actually a really good idea.” Lena finds her purse and gets a fluke framing, the early setting sun coming in a way that conceals Kara’s face. It only shows her shining snow filled hair and striking figure. She takes a few more pictures, but she has a strong feeling that the first one is going to turn out perfectly.

“Can I get some of this out now?” Kara has a hand in her hair already, waiting for approval.

Lena sets her camera down “No.” Lena puts her hand to Kara’s cheek and feels the warmth spread into her own body “Please.”

Kara moves her head to kiss Lena’s hand “It’ll drip all over the sheets.”

Lena’s thumb finds its way into Kara’s mouth, and Kara bites it, her tongue follows the bite mark in a comforting path “ _I_ will drip all over the sheets if you keep it.”

..

They don’t make it to the bed.

Lena’s whole body is on fire in the best way, she’s spent, and knows she could do more at the same time.

Kara is breathing heavily under her, mapping out the arc of her body with a gliding hand.

She kisses Kara’s chest in random intervals, not able to pry her needy body from Kara’s. “More?”

Kara laughs “I won’t have time to cook.”

It’s honestly a hard decision, to wait until after eating what will no doubt be a fantastic meal, or make _Kara_ the meal. “Take me upstairs.”

Names are repeated in whispers, mouths are used for every way they can be. Lena is gasping for breath, knowing that she won’t be able to walk for a while longer.

“I hate that you’re my boss.”

Lena tilts her head to Kara standing in a housecoat that does a fantastic job at concealing nothing “Don’t ask me to leave.”

“No. I’d have you stay here all the time if I could.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad.” Lena can picture doing her work from here most days, the extra drive time would be okay with easy access to Kara as reward. “I’d miss my friends.”

Kara is scrolling through her phone “They could always visit.” She clicks her tongue “Do you like Chinese food?”

“Yes.”

Kara leans back onto the bed, using Lena as a pillow “Lena Luthor being domestic,” Kara has the tone of a storyteller “What a site that would be.”

Lena is staring at the ceiling, unable to properly conjure up an image of her waiting around for Kara, or any woman for that matter. “Honestly, I’ve never seen myself long term with a woman.”

Kara is uncharacteristically quiet, when Lena turns to look at her, surprise and something harder to read are painted on her face. 

“What’s wrong?”

Kara is staring at her in open shock “You don’t see yourself long term with a woman? Like, ever?”

“Not really.”

“Why?”

Lillian’s face flashes by “I don’t know. Just, I only like women physically I suppose.”

“Well,” Kara’s tone is back to cheerful “You’re missing out, I’ve dated some really nice girls.” Kara clicks a few more things on her phone “And, the food is going to be here soon.”

..

The breakfast in the morning is even better than last time.

“Are you trying to make me gain weight?” Lena asks after swallowing another mouthful of waffle.

“You’d look good no matter what.”

Lena smiles, glad to have this easy back and forth.

Kara goes into the kitchen to clean some things.

She’s sad to be leaving tomorrow, looking through the pictures on her phone. “Can I post that picture you took of me?”

No answer.

“I won’t tag you in it.”

“I uh, yeah. Good.” Kara comes back in, a strange look on her face.

The word salad isn’t completely out of the ordinary, but her behaviour is. “Everything okay?”

“It’s almost the anniversary of Mon-El’s death, and I think it’s scrambling some stuff in my head.” 

“How can I help?”

Kara smiles, barely a glint of sadness still in her eyes “You are, just by being here. In the interest of honesty, I almost always have a friend down here during this time.”

Lena waits for her to say more if she needs to.

“I don’t sleep with them, like, in case you thought that.” 

Lena laughs “I figured as much.”

..

As she watches Kara’s workout with a leering gaze, she scrolls through the comments on the picture she posted. “Kara, do you not follow me on anything?”

Kara grunts as she drops her weight. “I thought it might raise some suspicion if I did.”

“It raises more that you don’t.” Lena types in Kara’s name and hits follow “Of course your account is private.”

Kara grabs her phone, and Lena is notified that Kara has accepted her follow request.

She scrolls through Kara’s feed as she resumes her workout. Kara has pictures of landscapes, her friends, her mom, Alex, J’onn. She goes farther back, and, oh no.

“You had bangs?”

Kara holds her pose, but her attention has clearly shifted “Letting you see that is a horrible mistake.”

“Well,” Lena looks at that bright smile, those eyes, the muscle that was starting to build on her “I mean, they don’t look _that_ bad.”

Kara drops her weights “I knew it. No one could truly say that they liked them.”

“You still looked good, you just look… better without them.”

Kara slinks down “Alex was totally right.”

Lena giggles to herself and scrolls further. Pictures of Mon-El are heavily featured. Kara looks so lost in her love, this full bodied and overwhelming thing, something she’s never truly had for herself. Something she was maybe on the cusp of with Jack, maybe if he’d lived. Maybe then she’d know.

.. 

Kara is sucking at every available spot on Lena’s body, making her squirm on the couch.

“I have a phone call, so please stop.”

Kara sucks on Lena’s ear and leaves the room.

She starts the call, listening intently as the team goes over the upcoming fight roster, the promo packages they have going, and the fact that this fight coming so soon after the last isn’t enough down time.

Kara is lifting Lena’s legs to her shoulders.

“ _What are you doing?”_

“Getting revenge.”

Then Kara is pressing her mouth to Lena, making the words on the other end more a buzz than anything decipherable. Kara stops, and Lena is just as pissed as she is happy.

Kara puts Lena face first into the couch and starts again from behind. Lena says something to the people on the other end, but right now all of her brain power is on what Kara is doing to her, how good it feels.

She doesn’t want to orgasm while in a conference call. She hangs up and almost immediately gives in to release at Kara’s hands.

Kara kisses up and down her legs “You’re so good Lena. I love when you come for me.”

Lena can’t help but twitch at each touch. “F-fucker.”

Kara licks her fingers “Mhm.”

..

It’s late now, and Kara seems to be deliberating supper more than usual.

Lena catches her as she paces back and forth from the fridge, holding her from behind “What’s up?”

“Well… There’s this place like thirty minutes away that serves amazing fish and chips. They do this thing where they batter it with crushed tortilla chips as well as the usual stuff. It’s amazing.”

Lena catches on “But you’re worried about being seen together?”

Kara nods.

“Why not wear your ‘disguise’?”

Kara laughs, though her face is still conflicted “See, they know me as Kara, like,” She makes a self assessing gesture “Like, as me.”

Lena thinks about it, two friends can go out for dinner. Them not being seen together is worse than never being seen together honestly, like how Kara didn’t have her on any social media. “Who’s to say my friend didn’t just invite me out for dinner?”

“And that’s what we are.” The statement almost has a questioning tone to it.

Lena kisses her “With a _lot_ of benefits.”

Kara lifts her onto the counter and presses into the kiss.

They take an extra half hour to get there.

Kara walks into the restaurant with a bright look on her face.

“Kara!” A woman embraces her almost immediately. “How’s it been?”

“Really good actually, don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with the DEO news, but-“

“I already know that. I asked how you are, not how your career is going.”

“Well,” Kara laughs “It’s _also_ been really good actually. No panic attacks in a long time, and I’m feeling hopeful, more hopeful than I have in a while.”

“Awesome.” M’gann guides them to a seat “Did she sell you on the fish and chips and chips?”

Lena is too caught up in the cozy atmosphere to know that she’s the one being talked to. “Oh, yes, that’d be great.” 

“You’re a funny girl. Can see why she brought you here.”

“Oh.” Lena can feel her face getting hot “I’m just her friend.”

M’gann raises her eyebrow “Didn’t say you weren’t.” And walks off.

Kara holds back a laugh, hair spilling out in front of her.

“So, what’s up with all of your friends having interesting spelling for their names?” Lena asks, having noticed the nametag, and as an effort to stop Kara laughing at her.

“She won’t tell anyone, don’t worry.”

Lena waits for an answer to her actual question.

Kara starts to rearrange the pepper and salt shakers in a nervous gesture “Well, they grew up in a hippie commune too.”

“They?”

“Her and J’onn. They both grew up a lot closer to National City than I did, I just lucked out with having a mostly normal name.”

She thinks back to hearing her talk about the ‘Zor-El’ middle name. “You’re full of surprises, I’ll give you that.”

Kara hooks her foot around Lena’s ankle “Good surprises.”

Lena almost kicks the table when M’gann comes back. She gives them both a glance, smirks, then sets their food down.

“Thank you.” Kara shouts out before beginning to devour her food.

It’s really good. And such a Kara thing to eat, bordering on outright unhealthy, and odd.

When the meal is done, Kara orders two milkshakes.

“You didn’t let me order my own.”

“Just trust me.”

Lena kicks her under the table “You’ve been saying that a lot lately.”

Kara turns to her with a shit eating grin “And have I lead you wrong?”

She kicks her again, hating that she’s right.

Kara rubs her leg under the table “Don’t injure me before my big fight.” Kara groans “I forgot to ask, are you lactose intolerant?”

“You already ordered, why wouldn’t I have said something sooner?”

“I went here with Kate once, and she is lactose intolerant. And… well my car seat had to be reupholstered.”

Lena tries to hold in her laugh, stabbing the seat with her nails. But then she catches her red reflection, and allows herself to laugh.

Kara is hiding her face in embarrassment, but Lena can’t stop herself. Tears are streaming down her face.

“Ooh, I haven’t laughed that hard in-“ Probably years “Wow. I needed that.”

Kara thanks M’gann for the shakes and Lena attempts to apologize for the noise.

“It’s nice to see you smile. You always look so serious on TV.”

Lena clenches her mouth “You know who I am?”

M’gann blinks slowly, like she’s processing what Lena asked. “People more famous than you come through here. Quit worrying.”

The peanut butter chocolate shake is as amazing as Kara said it would be.

“So, you brought Kate here?”

Kara wipes her mouth “Yeah. I think me trying to ease her into dating is what did it. And that we told people. In retrospect, we did just about everything wrong.”

She thinks about Thea and Felicity knowing. “What happened? If you don’t mind getting into it.”

“It was ages ago, don’t sweat it.” Kara takes a long sip “We told people about it, that things were casual. And, when you tell people, and there’s chemistry. They tend to try and push you together. I assume you and James had the same issues.”

“Yeah we did.” _Wait_ “Wait. How did you know about that?”

Kara takes an extremely long sip of her drink this time, doing a poor job of hiding her smile “It’s kind of an open secret. Part of why I was so hesitant to-“ She points at the two of them “I was worried you had a thing for fighters.”

“I have a thing for people that take charge. I was seeing a baseball coach for a while for the same reason.”

“A team that I would know?” Kara cocks her head in question.

Lena considers lying “Little League.”

Kara giggles, then snorts, setting her off into a full-blown fit of laughter. “ _Lena_. You’re too much.”

“I’m not joking.”

Kara wipes some tears from her eyes “I know, that’s what makes it so funny.” 

..

Back at Kara’s, she finds herself sad that this will be the last night here for a while.

“I have to interview Laurel.”

Kara grabs Lena’s coat and hangs it up, then crashes into the couch. “Alright.”

“I don’t know, felt like I should tell you.” Lena slots herself in the spot that Kara’s body affords.

Kara grabs Lena’s hand and plays with each finger “I know I’m the only girl for you, I’m not worried.”

She ignores the sentimentality “Take me to bed.”

Kara gives her the look that she hasn’t managed to get on camera yet. The look that’s just for her. Just for people Kara’s about to fuck, Lena corrects herself.

When she’s laid out on the mattress and Kara is playing her body like an instrument, she doesn’t have any thoughts at all.

..

She wakes in the middle of the night, and Kara is staring at the ceiling, tears sliding down her face in silence. It must be the anniversary of Mon-El’s death getting to her, and Lena is glad that she helped her through some of it. She half watches Kara until she falls asleep again, and then links their bodies together.

“Don’t worry.” She whispers to the sleeping woman in hushed tones “I’m here.”

..

In the morning, Kara shows no signs of what she was dealing with last night as she helps Lena get ready to leave.

“When can I see you again?” Lena asks as she wraps her scarf around her neck, feeling embarrassed for asking.

“I have to arrange for someone to drive me home tonight, I have a feeling the workouts are going to make me a shitty driver. Living with Alex and Nia aren’t situations I want to go through again.”

“Why don’t you stay at my place?”

Kara stops mid movement “Won’t that be super obvious?”

Too late to stop now “It’s just like staying at a hotel. It won’t be weird, you’ll be coming at night like usual, so there’s not any _additional_ risk.”

“A month is a long time.”

“I own my building.”

“Congrats?”

“The room across the hall is deliberately left unoccupied. You could stay there. Then it just looks like I’m giving you a discount.”

“I’ll think about it, and let you know by the end of the day.”

“Okay.” She opens the door to a gust of snow “Thank you Kara. This was really nice.”

Kara smiles at her “It really was.”

..

She drives back to the city singing along (badly) to Christmas songs. It seems too early for them to be flooding the radio, but for the first time in a while, she’s not annoyed by it.

Her home feels weirdly empty.

She lets the door close behind her and checks to see if maybe her furniture has been rearranged, then collapses onto her -not- rearranged bed.

She wakes to her phone buzzing.

**_Kara Danvers_ ** **: I’ll take you up on that offer, as long as we don’t make it a secret. I think you were right, that too much distance is just asking for trouble**

**_Lena:_ ** **I’ll send you the details**

She sends the information to Kara and a quick text to the people at the front door, then grips her blankets into a ball and holds tight.

Waking up, the reality of what she’s agreeing to dawns on her.

It’s not the stupidest idea she’s ever had, but it’s up there. Her phone reminds her of the Laurel interview coming up, and she goes on getting ready for her day, she makes an omelette and internally thanks Kara for the new skill.

_No thinking or talking about Kara until you see her tonight_

She nods to herself and avoids going into her dark room, avoids her bed, and her couch. And ultimately chooses to get in her car and drive to Star City herself.

“Call Lucy.” She announces to her Bluetooth.

“Call Lillian. Is that right?”

“No.” She sighs “Call Lucy.”

“Calling Lucy Lane.”

“Thank you.”

There’s a scratchy sound, then Lucy’s voice “What are you thanking me for?”

“Just talking to the Bluetooth. Can you come to the Laurel and Kara fight with me?”

“Uhhh, you mean the James and Taylor fight?”

“I’m the face of the fighting woman documentary, I have a focus.”

“Fair enough. Can you come?”

“I suppose.”

“Can I get you for…” Lena has to think of how many Kara fights are left if she wins them all. “Two or three fights?” This seems like a good way to distance her life from Kara’s.

“Three, including this?”

Laurel, Kate, Sara, Sam. Four. And that’s if she decides to go to Gotham for the Kate fight, which seems like a stretch. “This one is a freebie for being long so gone.” 

“As long as they’re spread out. You have a fan for hire.”

Lena signals to switch lanes “I want to head out the night you get back. Is that okay with you?”

“More than okay. Make me friends with your friends, I need some easiness after a year of this craziness.”

“They’re still crazy, but you might like them.”

“Do I get to meet your new model?”

It would be unfair to leave Lucy out of this, “You’ll be seeing her at the fight.” Might as well keep the Luthor flair for the dramatic.

“I like that. Keep things mysterious.”

“Okay, I’m hands free and the Bluetooth sucks, can you hang up?”

“You’re weirdly attached to that car. Like, you’re rich, get a new one.”

“Goodbye Lucy.”

“Sentimentalist.” Lucy hangs up.

The GPS says she has ten or so minutes until she’s in Star City.

Laurel is nice, she just has to stick to the script and use her charms. Ask her about Sara’s upcoming retirement, ask if she has any plans for retiring herself. What she thinks of the women’s side of the sport.

She pulls into the Lance gym parking lot. And gets out, finally allowed to check her phone.

**Barney (1 Missed Call)**

She calls him back, leaning against her car as she waits for the call to connect. Briefly she daydreams about him and Nia together. They would probably balance each other out, sand down the rougher edges of their personalities. How would she set that up without acknowledging her eavesdropping?

“Hi. Was just calling to say that Sara is going to be there soon, and that a joint interview is a good idea.”

“Ah. Okay.” Might as well be the kind of matchmaker that she hates. “Are you seeing anyone Barney?”

“Me? No.”

“Have you met Nia Nal?”

An almost imperceptible pause, but a pause nonetheless “Yes I have.”

“I heard she’s single.”

“Oh. Well, that’s… interesting news.”

“Bye then.” Lena hangs up, satisfied with her amount of meddling.

The Lance Gym is modest on the outside. On the inside however, it’s a well-oiled machine, people bustling past her. And in the ring, dodging sparring punches from Laurel, is none other than Quinten Lance himself.

She turns and sees Mxy getting the team to record the father daughter pair and Lena at the same time. “Wow.”

Mxy smiles “Right? Even after the heart problems, he still steps up as much as the doctors will let him.”

That’s a well of sympathy that she may dig into if Laurel’s okay with it.

“Where do you want me Mxy?”

He looks at the path of her to Laurel. “Just walk to her normally. I’d like a shot of you yelling that you’re here while she’s boxing with her dad. It’ll look good.”

Lena starts to weave her way around people doing circuits of exercises. She waits a beat for Mxy and the camera crew to catch up, then yells up to Laurel and Quinten. “Quinten, don’t wear her out.”

Laurel makes to punch Quinten for not paying attention, then taps his head before turning to Lena. “How about you come up here.”

Lena makes her way into the boxing ring. “You know that almost ever person I’ve interviewed has offered to spar?”

Laurel shrugs “My strong suit is my ground game. And I can show off best when I have someone who’s bad with me.” Laurel looks to Quinten, who’s doing a dreadful job of not looking stressed. She wraps her dad into a hug “Which is why I still have this fossil training me.”

Lena smiles “So, what can you share about the game plan?”

Quinten raises his eyebrows “Knock Kara out before she can knock Laurel out.”

Laurel shoves him, and he stays in place “She asked _my_ game plan.” Laurel stretches, definitely getting a glamour shot from the camera crew of her muscle “Kara doesn’t have the stamina for me. And I know that saying that is considered stupid, but I’ve never been knocked out, and she’s not going to be the one who does it.”

Kara has stamina that they’ve never seen. The stamina to make Lena consider a wheelchair because of how weak her legs get, the kind of stamina that has her begging for the mercy of stopping and continuing at the same time. Lena clenches her legs together, hating how much she’s affected by the woman who isn’t even here.

“I’m going to bring her to the third round and take her out. She’s only been to the third round once, and I-“

Sara hops into the ring “Laurel, are you trying to guarantee that I end up fighting her?”

Laurel hugs her “No. I want to up the chances of us fighting.”

“Whatever you say.”

The three of them look like the picture of family, hanging off each other and swaying a bit when Quinten tries to shrug Sara off. Lena finds herself yearning for times like these that she missed out on, and remembering with some bitterness when they actually managed to be a family.

“The three of you are quite the picturesque family.” Lena finally manages.

Quinten grimaces “Yeah, ‘cept for the mom situation.”

“That you’ve managed to raise these two woman to be so successful on your own is truly-“

“I’d rather not get into that, don’t know why I brought it up, bad for my heart.”

Lena quirks an eyebrow “Can we get into that?”

He nods “Might as well get the tear jerker part over with. I got diagnosed with a heart condition that can kill me if I get too stressed out.”

Laurel hangs off his arm “And we try our best to kill him.”

Lena can sense that Laurel doesn’t want to talk about that, so she shifts gears to a less sensitive topic “While I have the both of you here, Laurel, what do you think about Sara retiring?”  
Laurel makes a face “It’s sad that we won’t be the Lance sisters anymore, but I’m glad that she knows to get out when the time is right. And Ava is great for her, so… Yeah, I’m just happy.”

Sara hugs her tightly “You damn softy.”

Laurel squirms in her grasp “Not in front of the camera!”

They capture a few more minutes of sparring, and make the rounds to the regular gym goers. Some smile for the camera, but most just go harder on their workout, like with enough effort they can be the subject of one of these documentaries. She makes eye contact with a boy who has the intensity of someone who _knows_ they’ll be the subject of one of these documentaries some day. She thinks of herself at that age, her mother denying her of love, lying and saying she was adopted. There wasn’t confidence at that stage in her life, and she envies it.

“We can cut in footage of a girl sparring if you’d prefer.”

She had forgotten about Mxy, and even the camera crew. “Probably a good call, keeps things focused.”

Mxy nods, then waves the camera crew away “You okay Ms. Luthor?”

She looks up into the air to avoid the way her eyes are getting misty “Getting sentimental is all.” She fixes her gaze on him in a normal way “Thank you. Thank you for checking.”

Mxy smiles “No problem.” He leaves with an awkward wave.

Lena lingers for a little longer, caught up in the environment, the hopefulness of youth that she wasn’t afforded.

_Stop feeling sorry for yourself_

She takes her own advice, and exits.

..

She’s on the road, belting along to something cheesy and enjoying every second of it.

“Kara Danvers calling.” Her car announces.

With some trepidation, she says “Accept call.”

“Hi.” Kara squeaks out, sounding breathless.

“Hi.” Lena’s plans to avoid being overly connected to Kara have crashed and burned.

“I’m moved in.”

This is an awful idea, and it’s dawning on her much too late. “Sounds good. See you tonight?”

The question is out before she can stop herself, the suggestion of it present before she can take it back.

“Yes.” Kara laughs “I think you’ll be sick of me by the end of the month.”

“We’ll see.”

..

She knocks on Kara’s door. After some noise of scrambling, Kara is there, standing in all her glory. “Want the tour?”

The tour is really a mad dash to her bed, every touch done with animalistic need. The craziness of having Kara so nearby for a month is a thought that goes away quickly with any other higher forms of thought.

Kara is kissing her with passion, like it’s been ages since they’ve seen each other. And she kisses back the same way, moving them together with fever.

“Oh Lena.”

Her name being said like that sends sparks throughout her body, making every touch feel charged. “Holy shit. Keep doing that, like-“ Words are a foreign concept as her world is rocked.

She wakes in the middle of the night and untangles herself from Kara, making sure to not disturb her. Usually she’d sleep the night with Kara, but it seems important to keep boundaries over this month.

..

The next night, it’s Kara knocking on her door. Lena pulls her in and maps out her body with touch and taste.

The intensity they have each time doesn’t seem to be lessened by the fact that they’re doing it every day. In fact, it only seems to be getting worse, or better. Lena smiles at the thought.

In the morning as she’s locking her door, she sees Kara doing the same. “Training?”

Kara nods and points to Lena’s tablet “Management?”

Lena smiles “Have to get things ready for your big fight.”

“Want to carpool?”

This distancing thing isn’t going too well “Sure. I’ll drive.” Her mouth says in defiance of her brain.

“Cool.”

They go down together, walking into the parking lot as friends. To all the world, nothing more than friends. The way that Kara is looking at her is anything _but_ friendly. It’s the look Lena would be giving people in a club.

Getting into the car and onto the road isn’t too complicated usually, usually she doesn’t have a star athlete looking at her like a meal. _Usually_ , she isn’t straining to not give into that look as she drives.

“Pull over somewhere.”

Lena turns them into a grocery store parking lot, only a few other cars as company. “We don’t have time for this. And the risk.”

Kara has unbuckled herself, and straddles Lena’s lap “You don’t want me to stop though.”

Kara puts her hair into a ponytail and Lena can only weakly nod.

“You want me,” Kara puts her hand down Lena’s skirt and smiles “You _really_ want me.”

Lena blushes and tries to hide her face, but Kara holds her steady by the chin. “Stop teasing me.”

“Never.”

..

She looks herself over in the rear-view mirror and rubs at a mark that Kara left on her neck. Kara is sporting the ‘just fucked’ look better, but obviously. “Clean yourself up.”

Kara is breathing steady in her seat “Hold on coach, I need a second.”

“I’ve seen you go three rounds with actual athletes, you can’t handle one round with me?”

Kara fixes her sitting posture and taps Lena’s cheek “Take it as a compliment.”

She drops Kara off. “Text me when you’re done.”

“Yes coach.”

Lena rolls her eyes and speeds off, not wanting to be even more late.

Pride, and a few other feelings, follow her into the building.

Barney is the first to swoop in “Lena, you’re late.”

“Good morning to you too Barney.” He doesn’t take the cue “There was traffic.”

“No there wasn’t.” He speeds up to keep pace with her “Anyways, there isn’t much excitement for the main card so we’re trying to play up the Laurel and Constantine fights.”

“People don’t care about James fighting?” She stretches out, the car sex having her feeling cramped.

“James still has great numbers, it’s just that no one cares about this Taylor guy. Most people are just waiting for James and Ben to fight again, and that won’t be for a few more months even with the way Ben’s working himself back up the rankings.”

“Alright. I’ll work on the Laurel and Constantine parts, have the B team do James’.”

“We actually have the Laurel and Kara section basically finished at this point.”

She finds herself slightly saddened by the lost opportunity to ogle Kara in high definition. “Let’s get to work then.”

..

Her phone buzzes, and she sees that Kara is ready to go home. Go home with her. This whole thing is so crazy, but that thought isn’t the first on her mind as she grabs her purse and heads out. The thought is more on the line of if they can make it home before one of them goes for it. 

She waits outside the gym for Kara and waves at J’onn, who’s walking her with an umbrella.

“Not like I can stay with Nia for a month again.”

J’onn nods “Her sleepwalking is the stuff of legends.”

Kara gets in the car “Hey Lena.” She smiles, then turns “Thanks J’onn.”

“No problem,” He nods at Lena “You’re a good friend to her.”

Lena thinks of what they did in the car just this morning “Hey, it’s only a month.”

“Alright, goodnight Ms. Luthor, goodnight Kara.”

She smiles at him “Goodnight J’onn.”

The car ride back consists of Kara taking special care to have her arms crossed, which is probably her way of trying not to be distracting. But it only serves as extra distraction for Lena.

“Your, your arms.” She mutters at a red light.

Kara uncrosses her arms.

“Cover them or I think I’m going to crash.”

Kara laughs and skirts her fingers over Lena’s jaw “If you don’t have to cover your neck, that hardly seems fair.”

The light turns green, and Lena speeds them home.

They end up in Kara’s room, Lena working her hands over each inch of skin that she’s able to.

“I was thinking about this all day.” Lena says under her breath, hating the needy sound of it.

Kara goes to her knees “Me too.”

It’s amazing, as per usual. She feels safe, feels like her every urge and need is being satisfied by Kara’s mouth and movements. The way that her and Kara make each other squeak and pant is one of the many things that has her convinced that this isn’t as bad an idea as her work addled brain would have suggested.

When they’re done, and Lena is stuck to Kara’s stomach in a tangle of sweat and hair, she’s done with worrying.

Kara pries Lena off of her, Lena making undignified noises of annoyance the whole time.

She hops up, legs as toned as the rest of her “Want some ice cream?”

Lena looks her up and down and Kara laughs.

“You couldn’t survive another round.”

Lena shrugs, knowing she’s right “What a way to die though.”

Kara opens her freezer and stares at Lena with the unanswered question.

“Yes please.”

A _completely_ accidental spill, and Kara is licking the ice cream off of her chest. “You’ve never tasted this good.”

And then Kara is doing what she does best, and Lena is faintly aware that she’ll probably sleep here tonight with how good this is. “K-Kara.” She keeps working her mouth and fingers against Lena ruthlessly. The bedframe groans with the effort of keeping together as Kara brings them against it so hard that she thinks they’ll get a noise complaint from the main lobby.

When they’re finished Lena tries to stand and leave, but the light breathing of Kara next to her makes that a less desirable option. “Can I sleep over?” 

Kara scoffs and holds her tight “As if I’d let you go.” 

..

When she wakes, Kara is gone, and Lena almost panics, before remembering it’s her day off. So, she lays in Kara’s bed, missing her already.

She showers, dresses herself, and leaves, trying to think of which friend to annoy.

That’s when she spots Lucy, _Lucy_ is waiting outside of her door. Happiness and panic overtake her. Maybe she can play it off.

“Lena are you trying to sneak back into your own room-“ Lucy looks at Lena closely, seeing right through her “No way.”

“Lucy please.” Lena opens her door and fails to cover the marks of a night well spent.

Lucy follows her in, laughing in disbelief “I thought to myself, no way she’s banging the fighter she has staying across the hall, that’s way too stupid for Lena.”

None of her decisions surrounding Kara have been strictly rational. “It just seemed… convenient.”

“Uh huh. How is she?”

“Very nice.” Lena answers, avoiding the question.

“Uh huh.” Lucy strips off her coat “She has to be pretty great for you to need such easy access.”

Lena lets a wall support her sex addled body “Okay. She’s amazing in bed, like five orgasms minimum, and she’s so nice, and it’s a weird thing, but it works.”

Lucy looks ready to make another verbal jab when she hears movement outside.

Lucy then smiles widely, having Lena right where she wants her “Oh yes.”

_God no_

Lucy opens the door to an absolutely delectable Kara Danvers, straight from a workout, hair mostly dried from a fresh shower. Hair that her hands twitch to untangle, a body that she wants to touch so badly. A person that actually makes her want to ditch her friend.

“Hi?” Kara questions, something like jealousy on her confused face.

Lucy shakes her hand and leads her in “I am such a huge fan. And Lena has told me _so_ much about you.”

“She has?” Kara walks in, eyes betraying her panic.

Lena laughs in an entirely artificial way “Me and Lucy were just catching up, what’s up Kara? Wanted to hang out?”

“Uh, yeah. What’s, what’s going on?”

Lucy smiles “I was just telling Lena about my boy troubles, catching up with my dear _friend_.” Seeming to catch that she isn’t supposed to know, and that Kara is being possessive.

Lena feels a modicum of relief.

Lucy leans close to Kara “We were going to go to the National City art museum, would you like to come?”

And that relief is dashed.

“Sure.” Kara answers, the lack of sureness bleeding into her voice.

Lucy smiles “We’re set then.”

Lena nods numbly, grabs her camera on some kind of reflex. Following the lead of Kara and Lucy to the elevator. The elevator that’s seen its fair share of what her and Kara really do when they’re ‘hanging out’, is cramped with the unacknowledged truth.

Lucy insists on driving, and Lena can’t help the way hey eyes dart from the rear-view mirror to look at Kara. She’s nervously adjusting her pants and trying desperately to keep her hair out of her face while snow pelts the back of the car. It’s cute.

Wanting to ignore whatever is going on in her head, Lena turns to the front, and catches Lucy smirking.

_Bastard_

Feeling vindictive, Lena puts a hand to her shoulder “So Lucy, tell us about Clark.” 

“Oh, got me there.” Lucy responds “The guy I had a mild crush on and lives in a different city.”

Lena sits back in her seat, resisting the urge to cross her arms like a jilted child.

Lucy parks them and pays for the metre, smiling when she sees that Kara and Lena are pointedly avoiding eye contact.

Kara is shivering, her hoodie not doing the job to save her from the cold, Lena brings her into a half huddle “My god, you’re ice cold. I’ll bring you in.” She brings Kara up the stairs and into the lobby of the gallery.

“That’s pretty cool.” Kara points a shaking hand to a giant Native American totem pole situated in the middle of the large lobby.

Lena rubs Kara’s arms “If you get a cold, J’onn will kill me.”

Kara smiles at her “And here I thought you just cared.”

Lena resists the overwhelming urge to kiss her “What are friends for?” She responds weakly instead.

Kara licks her lips, getting some snowflakes off that Lena wants to get rid of with her own mouth “Lots of things apparently.”

The door opens, and Lena takes a reflexive step back.

Lucy shakes some snow from herself “You guys didn’t get tickets yet?”

Kara raises her hands in innocence “This whole thing was spontaneous, no wallet.”

Lucy looks to Lena, waiting for her excuse “I was attending to my weather worn friend.”

“You two are quite the pair.”

Lena’s eyes go wide. But she turns and sees that Kara is deep in her phone.

“Hey did you guys know that this place is free at this time? We don’t even need to get tickets.”

“That’s great.” Lena manages, mouthing _what the hell?_ At Lucy, who just shrugs.

“Oh no.” Lucy starts, utterly unconvincing “I have to leave.”

“Already?” Kara asks, sounding more incredulous than bothered.

“Yeah, new job, still getting used to the hours. You two can split on a cab, right? I mean, you practically live together.”

Lena seriously considers slapping her “Yes. We can.”

Knowing better than to try for a hug, Lucy slips away. Lena glares at Lucy as she goes out the door, pretending to be on a phone call. She thinks to chase her down, berate her for the lacking subtlety. But when she turns to Kara, she only sees veiled excitement.

Kara shifts her weight from foot to foot in what Lena is starting to recognize as her signature nervous gesture “Do you still want to check it out? You know, because we’re already here.”

She does have her camera, and her need to jump Kara has subsided enough that she wants to actually enjoy her company. “Might as well.”

“Wow,” Kara takes her hand and Lena doesn’t bother resisting her pull “Don’t sound too excited.”

She’s excited enough to use her free hand for the stamps provided by the people at the front desk, excited enough that she bumps into Kara as they walk into the first section on impressionist paintings.

Kara detaches and Lena misses the warmth. For purely weather-related reasons, of course. A canvas of mixing and stretching colours comprising a crowd has captured Kara’s attention. The painting is impressive, but she finds herself more interested in watching Kara dissect it. She has her head tilted and Lena fights the urge to fit her head in the crook of her neck.

Kara takes in a breath “Wow.”

Lena smiles at her “There’s a certain piece of art I like looking at more.”

“Really?” Kara has a face splitting smile “Where?”

She considers lying, then looks from side to side and pushes forward to kiss her. Kara’s lips meet hers hesitantly, and she sighs into the sensation, letting Lena guide them against the bare spot of wall between paintings.

“I needed this.” Lena admits.

Kara slots her knee between Lena’s thighs “I think you needed something else.”

Lena starts to grind herself into Kara’s knee, feeling the sensation she’s been craving build. For this moment, not caring about the consequences of the heavy breathing and hot friction of what’s happening. She finally touches the hair that’s been haunting her, moves into the solid body that she’s been unable to touch. Not wanting Kara to know just how badly she’s been keeping their secret. Some exhaled ‘ _oh_ ’ noises come out of her, and she might orgasm right there.

Then Kara pushes her away, mouth red with Lena, hair untangled and tangled from Lena’s hands in a different way. There’s a family that seems none the wiser passing through their section of the gallery. Once they’re gone, Kara finally looks at her. “That was… wow Lena.”

“We should,” Lena struggles to find the words, just as affected by what they did, if not more “We should continue.” Kara quirks a brow “Looking at the gallery I mean.”

There’s a barely noticeable downward turn of Kara’s mouth, but Lena knows that if they go home right away Lucy will never stop giving her shit about it. Not that Lucy has any real high ground at the moment, considering what she did today.

Lena, with a firm lack of hand holding, walks to the next section of the gallery. Kara follows after taking time to collect herself.

Before them is a staircase that leads in a slight spiral from both sides to another section of the gallery. Kara moves past Lena and stands between the two staircases, looking up at the lights that shine down, when Lena stands back and to the side, she sees it, what Kara is too close to see properly. There’s an orange light that’s illuminating the left, and a blue light for the right.

With a slow hand, like she’s trying not to disrupt her prey, Lena removes her camera from her purse and lines up the shot.

Kara is in a perfect centre, face obscured by distance and light. The lights meet in the middle of her body and give her figure something ‘more’ that she can’t quite place beyond the way that it makes her look mysterious. She takes more for good measure, and when Kara turns to her, she gets one more of her smiling at Lena a way that’s more cute than hot.

“Think any of them will turn out?” Kara almost skips to her in excitement.

Lena puts her camera away “With you, they almost always do.” She answers honestly, granting her a blush from Kara before she bounds up the stairs to the next section. Lena snaps a few pictures of the staircase, enjoying the carved slope.

Kara looks down, hair fanning out and doing things that aren’t fair “You coming?”

Lena smiles up at her and gets another picture.

“You really can’t help yourself.”

Lena barely stops a laugh, knowing that it’s true. She walks up the stairs at a deliberately slow pace, letting some laughs escape at the near hop of excitement that Kara is acting out.

“Hurry upppp.” Once Lena is within grabbing distance, she’s brought to the next section.

She sees ‘Renaissance’ in a blur as Kara brings her in. There are several paint heavy portraits with decadent framing, reminding her of the home she grew up in, emotions of resentment and happiness fight.

When Kara looks at her with that signature brand of unbridled optimism, happiness has a leg up. “You ever consider doing a gallery of your pictures? I assume you still take pictures of things that aren’t me.”

With something like spite, Lena takes another picture of her “I don’t know if I’m good enough for a gallery.” She feels her portfolio is severely lacking.

“I think you’re good enough for anything Lena.” Kara taps her cheek with affection.

They work their way through the rest of the gallery, Lena feeling giddy at the faith that Kara has in her, almost reaching the end before Kara’s stomach makes an audible cry for help.

Lena bites her lip to hide her amusement, and Kara raises a hand of embarrassment to her face, they realize at the same time that they’re holding hands, letting go suddenly.

“Want to grab dinner?” Lena offers.

Kara mumbles a yes, and Lena pulls out her phone, for what she realizes is the first time for the duration of this whole… whatever this is.

**_Lucy_ ** **_Lane_ : How’s the not date going?**

She ignores the message, and finds a nice middle of the line seafood place. “Surf and turf?”

Kara’s stomach rumbles again “Yes. Oh my gosh yes.”

Lena smiles at the ever-persistent lack of swearing, and orders them an Uber to The Fish Shack. “Five minutes. Do you want to look at anything quickly before we go?”

Kara shakes her head “I’d eat the art. Let’s go.”

She can’t even act surprised when Kara grabs her hand again, on the backburner she’s worried about it, and the hidden nature of paparazzi in moments like this. On the surface, she’s enjoying the day out with Kara enough to not bother herself with that.

They’re out in the snow again, Kara huddling into Lena’s side as they wait for the Uber to pick them up. Lena brings Kara in closer as she spots someone who may or may not be pointing a camera at them.

The car rolls up, and Kara practically jumps into it.

Lena follows with some grace, and responds politely to the driver’s greeting, then turns to her shivering friend “Why didn’t you bring a jacket?”

Kara flicks some half-melted snow at her “I didn’t think we’d be going out at all.”

Lena rolls her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug “Special day.”

“If it’s with you, then I suppose it is.”

They arrive in time that Lena doesn’t have to prod that sentiment. When they step out, she’s pleased that the restaurant looks almost identical to the pictures “Got to admire the honesty.”

“What?” Kara manages through a shiver.

She brings Kara in with a huddle, feeling like a poor replacement for a blanket “Can’t have the star athlete catching a cold.”

Inside, they stomp snow off of their boots. Kara is eyeing the lobsters quizzically, and Lena fights the strange urge to pull her into another warming hug, instead poking her.

“Ow.”

Lena pokes her again, and Kara looks hilariously annoyed “You get punched in the face for a living. No way in hell that hurt.”

Hands on her hips in an incredulous pose instead of her usual powerful one, Kara huffs “I get payed to _not_ get hit. And it hurts when it’s from someone you care about.”

“Oh, so you do care about me.” Lena goes for another poke that Kara grabs in her hand.

“Of course.”

The words are so soft that Lena almost flinches from them “Let’s find a seat, you’re hungry.” She moves past Kara and finds them a seat in the middle of the restaurant, not wanting to risk a window again.

Sitting with a nervous smile playing on her lips, Kara hides her face with a menu. “Want to split on a shrimp basket?”

Honestly, she would, but it feels too much like something a couple would do. “I’m going for crab legs actually.” Kara’s nervous smile turns into a frown “Thanks though.”

There’s a silence that they usually don’t have, a stretching and unnatural one. And Lena knows it’s of her own doing.

So, she taps Kara’s fidgeting hands “I’m interviewing you soon.”

“Really?”

She hasn’t actually gotten confirmation yet, but she thinks she could force one. Just as she’s forcing distance between the two of them. “Of course. You’re my favourite fighter, how could I pass up the opportunity?” The words slip out.

Kara’s cocky grin means she isn’t going to let this slide. “Your _favourite_ huh?”

Lena sips her water as a shield from the stare that does more than it should.

“That’s not just because of the perks, is it?” Kara’s foot skirts dangerously close to where Lena is internally begging it to go.

Her own foot meets hers midway, and she has to decide if she wants to let this go on. Moving on its own accord, she creeps her foot up Kara’s leg, neither of them caring about the line of wet snow being left. Despite all that her brain says in protest, her body is begging for more, needing Kara to touch her, hold her steady, hold her strong, hold her with that-

The food is here. Lena almost knees the table retracting her leg. Mumbling thanks, they dig in as if _that_ didn’t almost happen.

“How’s the shrimp?” Lena asks, more just to fill the silence.

Kara bites into her last one while staring Lena down “You could’ve known for yourself if you’d just split it with me.”

The crab was good, but Lena wants to be eating something else. “I.” Lena starts then stops, embarrassed by how wet she already is “I, have enough to cover the meal. Can we leave now?”

No teasing on her face, Kara just nods.

In a mad dash, she drops the money and calls a cab, needing relief fast. “My room our yours?” Is the string of words she manages as they drop into a cab, barely able to keep her hands from Kara’s body.

She spends the whole car ride tapping her hands along her legs, not wanting to make the cabbie an unwilling spectator of what she can barely restrain herself from doing.

Having left the cabbie untraumatized, she thrusts a bill to the driver and steps out into the cold, Kara following at a small distance.

Her shirt is half unbuttoned by the time they’re colliding into a room, Lena’s room. Kara is biting her bottom lip, hands finding her ass and squeezing with a smile.

“Couldn’t help yourself, huh?” Kara gets to work on her neck and pushes them into the couch.

“Just. _Fuck_.” A finger is already curling inside her, and she feels remiss to try and finish that sentence.

A static of sensitivity makes every touch that Kara gifts her better than the last. “Kara.” The face she wants to see is buried between her legs, making anything but her name so hard to say. “L-look at me.” Kara’s eyes meet hers “I want to see you while I-“ She grasps the couch for life as her hips move to Kara’s song. Those blue eyes, darkened by want, keep with her the whole time. She shakily palms for Kara’s face, holding onto her with effort and kissing her sloppily. Her lips are wet, and she doesn’t care, just wants- _needs_ to feel her.

“Bed?”

Lena turns to look at what seems like a huge distance away “No. Clothes off.” She wants to feel everything. Kara stands and starts to slip her pants off agonizingly slow, turning halfway through the tease to show her ass. Lena paws at her chest as she takes her hoodie off.

Kara has a smile plastered to her face “In a rush?”

Lena suctions Kara’s chest with her mouth, because if you can’t beat them, might as well join them. Her tongue roams over the abs that she can’t seem to get enough of, she locks eyes with Kara, seeing the intimate frustration mirrored. Lightly biting her chest grants Lena a hiss of barely contained frustration.

“In a rush?” Lena repeats with a smile.

..

In and out of each others rooms, in and out of each other, in and out of the building.

Everything blurs as Kara’s fight night slowly approaches. Seeing promotional material of her, then seeing her in person.

“Lena, you look so beautiful when you stare at me like that.”

“Like what?” She asks in a tangle of sheets, sweating from the effort of what they’ve done.

“With you know… the look you give when you think I’m not looking.”

And she thinks she knows, but is too afraid to examine what these _looks_ might be.

“I like it, so don’t worry.” Kara adds, giving her an out.

Lena nuzzles into her warmth, feeling secure, and feeling some other things that she’ll blame on how good Kara just made her feel.

..

In the morning, she kisses Kara’s cheek as she leaves to her own room.

This is a day she’s been dreading. Another visit to Lillian before Christmas. ‘Quick visit’ Lex had said, having already done his own two visits for the year to their dear old mom. She looks through social media feeds for Luthor, worried about scandal, and is strangely comforted by the paparazzi shots of her and Kara huddled together against the cold.

The hashtags and comments seem to be fighting over whether they’re a couple, but none of them are based in anything. It’s clear from what Kara’s wearing, and the weather, that the huddle was actually necessary.

Lena takes the elevator down, smiling at all she’s done with Kara in here, letting herself be comforted by that, losing herself in the way that they just fit together when-

The door opens to the parking garage. Lena sighs and drives off to the nice building that stores such a not nice person.

She can’t be bothered to connect her phone, so she turns the radio on.

Taylor Swift is playing, and with no audience, she sings along to it.

Then Providence Care is waiting before her, the beautiful scenery draped in snow making her think of Lillian as the ice queen she is.

“Happy holidays.” She says to the staff with cheer that she doesn’t feel.

Another goddamn elevator, and then she’s outside Lillian’s room. With a breath of preparation, she enters.

“Happy holidays mom.”

Lillian is staring outside, seeming like she hasn’t moved at all in the months that have passed since she’s last visited “Say Merry Christmas, don’t be such a coward.”

Lena falls into the nearest chair with a sigh “I have a pretty multicultural staff, that would be rude.”

“Cowardice it is then. Can’t pick a holiday, can’t pick a sexuality.”

She’s so exhausted by it that she manages to laugh “Had to do some real gymnastics for that one mom.”

“How’s Lionel?”

It’s one of those days then, a day where she doesn’t even remember he’s dead. “He’s doing well mom. Says he’ll be visiting tomorrow when the weather lets up.”

“Has to make up for missing my birthday.”

“You birthday isn’t for-“ Lena takes a deep and steadying breath “I’m sure he has something big planned.”

She sits in Lillian’s oppressive silence for what feels like an appropriate amount of time, then makes her excuses and leaves.

As she stomps through the snow to her car, her phone reminds her of the Kara interview tomorrow. Which means the fight is only two weeks away.

Waiting for her car to warm, she tallies up how long she’s been seeing Kara.

 _September, October, November_ … By the Laurel fight, it’ll have been four months. As she pulls out of the parking lot, it sinks in just how long that really is. Longer than she was doing her thing with James.

There’s no Taylor Swift to distract her on the snowy ride back. Her eyes warm, but she berates herself into not crying, makes sure that no tears will fall for Lillian again.

When she gets home, she hopes that Kara will be in her room, needing her more than usual.

After the third round of knocking, she has to admit that it’s not happening. She leans into the door and calls Lucy, needing _someone_ enough that she’s willing to override her anger.

“Hey there.”

Lena sighs “Why did you try and complicate things with me and Kara?” Apparently, she still hasn’t overridden her own anger.

“Things are already complicated. You two are practically dating, so I figured I’d try and make it literal.”

“I co-own the company, it would look _so_ bad. Not only for me, but it would delegitimize all of her hard work.”

Lucy laughs “No. You just have to make it clear what your role is in the company, and this documentary could be just that.”

It has been showing off what she does, and it’s clear that none of that is deciding fights. “I’m still mad.”

“Want to be mad over some lunch?” 

“You’re buying.” Lena turns from the door and heads back to her car, glad to have someone to occupy her time.

..

The eggroll she’s crunching into is so good she wants to cry. “Where do you even find these places?”

“Google.” Lucy answers with snark, taking a bite of her own eggroll with the same energy.

“How’s the work here?” Lena asks, bypassing their more childish banter.

“So, _so_ much better. The boss is nicer, I might even be able to get my dog in as a support animal, the defencive contract for National City is higher so I actually have some money to play with. It’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Lena smiles “I’m really happy for you. And not just because this means I get to see you more.”

“Although,” Lucy smiles back “We know that’s a huge part of it.”

“You up for the James and Taylor fight?”

Lucy rolls her eyes “If you said the Constantine and Palmer fight, I’d believe you more.”

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you could mean by that.”

“You know full well what I mean. But I’m not going to pry any further.”

“How uncharacteristic.” She’s glad that Lucy’s letting it rest though.

“Who do you favour for it?”

“Honestly, I think it’s going to be a sweep all the way. James, Constantine, Kara.”

Lucy points at Lena, like she’s caught the words “You deliberately put them out of order. Kara fights second.”

“You seem to know a lot about a sport you’re not interested in.”

Lucy seems to be fighting a blush “James, you know, looks quite good in some of those promos you put together.”

“Have at him.”

“That wasn’t what I-“ Lucy hides her face then peers back up when her hair gets dangerously close to the plum sauce “Would that bother you?”

Maybe half a year ago she would have cared. But something about being with Kara has made her progress on these things “Not at all. I think the two of you would make a great couple.”

Lucy hums into her glass “You seem lighter recently.”

“I feel lighter.” She realizes aloud “Things just seem clear. And I think when this thing is done with Kara, I don’t know, I feel ready to move into something serious again.”

Lucy leans in and whispers, making sure that no one can hear them in this _empty_ Chinese food place “Although I would like for you to move into something serious with her. I’m really happy that you feel that way.”

Lena opens her fortune cookie to read it “If you feel you are right, stand firmly by your convictions.” She knows rationally that these things are printed randomly, but it feels like some weird approval “I’ll grant you this though,” Lucy’s head perks up “She is certainly a huge part of why.”

Lucy shrugs “I’ll take what I can get.” She cracks open her own fortune cookie and reads “Everyone agrees. You are the best.”

Lena grabs it from her, and is shocked that it actually says that “You shit.”

..

Outside of a now welcoming feeling gym, Lena steps in with the camera crew.

J’onn is there to greet her, a smile and an outstretched hand “My favourite Luthor.”

Lena takes the hand offered and shakes it firmly “Not much of a competition.”

He leads them further into the gym “Not too much that’s new. Her stamina is kind of amazing,” Lena fights her face from showing how well she knows that “The Lance sisters don’t give up, so we’re training her on headlocks so that she can end the fight before it becomes a points game.”

Kara is sparring with Barry, and both of them are just flying back and forth with kicks, applying pressure to each other in a way that would be devastating to anyone else.

Kara ducks under a leg and shoves Barry away “Don’t knock me out in front of the boss.” Kara has turned to her on bouncing feet and with a bright smile “Lena, a pleasure as always to have you grace our gym.”

Lena puts her hands on her hips in a way that she hopes isn’t too similar to Kara’s way “What do you have for me Danvers?”

Kara jumps down to where Lena is standing, and Lena congratulates herself on not flinching “What don’t I have?”

They’re much too close, and the words have such an obvious double meaning “Well,” Lena gives an appraising look up and down Kara’s body “A belt is one thing.”

Kara puts a hand to Lena’s shoulder, and she fights the urge to sink into the touch “I’m working on that.”

..

The rest of the interview is devoid of the minefield of sexual chemistry they’ve created.

Lena and Kara are hiding near a punching bag that’s seen better days.

“I’m impressed.” Lena admits once she’s sure the camera crew is packing up.

“Oh yeah?” Kara leans in “By what?”

“Are you free tonight?” She asks, cutting through the games she usually would have the patience for.

“Actually.” Kara’s face drops “I’m staying with Alex and Kelly for the next few days, then I’m back to _the room_ and then I’m back home.”

“So, after the fight?” Lena asks hopefully.

“After the fight.” Kara makes sure that no one can see them and her hand traces Lena’s curves “It’ll be worth the wait.”

..

She’s pacing back and forth in her room trying to hold in her pent up sexual energy.

It’s the day of the fight.

No need. She can hold it in.

All of her rationalizations are falling on deaf ears in her head. With a phantom seeming to guide her movements, Lena goes into the dark room and into the binder. The Kara binder. She takes a picture out and stuffs a hand down her pants, looking at the enchanting smile, the shoulders that are puffed out with effort, those eyes that have guided her through some of her best moments. She’s in bed, only her respect for privacy keeping her out of Kara’s while she’s gone.

She thinks back to taking this picture of a sex worn Kara, the words she whispered, the things she did to her. Her hips and hand work together, trying their best to replicate what she really needs right now.

With a sigh of release, she lays slack against her mattress.

..

Fight night is here, and some absolutely sex deprived thoughts aren’t going to ruin her night with- “Lucy!” She opens the door.

Lucy is holding a bottle of fancy champagne “Ready to make some money?”

“You bet on it?”

Lucy kicks her shoes off as she comes in and uncorks the champagne over the sink “I trust your judgement, made some bets on the easy wins.”

“You dog.” Lena puts out two glasses for Lucy to pour into.

..

The champagne bottle is empty before she knows it, and they’re in a car in what seems like a blur.

“Can you take us to the normal parling lot sir?” Lucy asks, seemingly more aware of Lena’s state than even she is.

Then they’re in a side room “Yeah this should be a good place to sleep it off. Don’t let me sleep through Kara’s fight.” The less drunk side of her says to shut up “She’s so fucking hot Lucy, like you don’t even get it. I think she’s the hottest girl I’ve ever been with, she might be the best sex I’ve ever had _in my life_.”

“This is water, and I want you to drink it like you drank that champagne, we can still turn this into a very manageable hangover.”

Lena downs the water, then wakes to Lucy shaking her.

“You seem better.”

Lena fixes her hair in a reflection “Champagne has always been my weakness.”

“I was counting on it making you loose, not unconscious.”

Lena takes a large gulp of water “Been hanging with Thea too much.”

“Good excuse.” Lucy helps her out of the chair “Palmer actually put up a half decent fight. Guy is really good at making himself small.”

Suddenly alert, Lena feels sleep leave her body “How much time until Kara’s fight?”

“Don’t worry you lovestruck idiot, we’ve got five minutes.”

The alcohol still soaring through her makes it hard to push down the barbed words she wants to hit back with. Listening to reason, she follows Lucy to their seats, getting only an amused smile from Lex.

“Laurel Lance _versus_ Kara Danvers!” Winn seems as hyped as the crowd to see if Kara can continue what is now becoming a legendary streak of wins.

She watches with baited breath as Kara and Laurel touch gloves and start their war of attrition, both working to fatigue the other. Kara brings Laurel to the ground, grabbing at her limbs like each can be pried into a different shape that will grant her a win. To Laurel’s credit, she’s not going to be easily beaten by those tactics. She slips out of more than a few fight ending positions, heaving for breath as Kara pushes her weight on top of her.

With the round over, both of them go to their corners worse for wear. They do a close up of Kara, and the bruises forming on her face make Lena feel an urge to sooth the pain away. Her phone is out before she can stop herself.

**_Lena_ ** **: Come straight to our place when your fight is done, I’ll be waiting for you**

‘Our’ place? When did she start calling it that? There isn’t much time to question herself, because the second round has started.

Kara is bouncing her weight against the cage of the octagon, goading Laurel into coming near. Laurel stands in the middle of the octagon with her hands to her side in an exasperated motion. That’s when Kara shoots for her legs like a madman. She takes Laurel to the ground and immediately starts on her with a cranking headlock that makes Lena’s neck ache in sympathy. As Kara works to knock Laurel out, she’s being fed solid elbow after solid elbow into her chest. Kara takes them with a grimace, and doubles her efforts.

Laurel goes limp, and Kara springs back from her to lay out on the ground.

“That’s Kara Danvers in round two!” Barney makes his way over as J’onn helps Kara up from the mat.

“Kara, once again we’re all just shocked at this streak of wins you’re on. Do you have a secret?”

Kara shrugs, wiping sweat from her face “What can I say, I have a good luck charm.” She winks to the audience in a way that will definitely have some girls discovering their sexuality.

“Are you excited to be heading to Gotham City to face Kate Kane?”

A flash of hurt crosses her features, that’s then replaced by her signature smile “More than you know. I’ve even gotten a gym placement for a week, so keep your eyes peeled.”

After making sure that Laurel is okay, Kara leaves the stage in a rush. And Lena realizes she has to beat her home. “Hey, Lucy.”

Lucy smiles “Go get her.”

..

Calling an Uber is a lot harder when you really need it.

She makes it home and hangs her coat, leaving her shirt unbuttoned just enough to be suggestive. There’s time to get a bottle of wine out and tidy the place a bit, the few days without consistent visiting making her let things slide.

Then there’s the knock she’s been waiting for.

She opens the door to a smiling Kara, who leans across the threshold and kisses her sweetly. “Sorry to keep you waiting, figured I should shower first and make some excuses.”

“I missed you.” She hates that she said it, and hates even more that she means it.

“Oh, wow.” Kara seems surprised, but her eyes shift to something else, and before she knows it, Kara has her up against a wall, making up for lost time.

Kara’s hot mouth is sucking on her neck, and she can feel the smile forming on it each time that Lena makes a noise. Her hands go for Kara’s clothes, and she lets out a hiss that doesn’t sound entirely like one of pleasure.

“Are you okay?”

Kara silences her with a kiss “Nothing that you can’t fix.”

..

Kara is half asleep. The one two combo of fighting Laurel and then fucking her, makes sleep tug at her in a much too cute way. Lena grabs her camera and gets a picture of her eyes fluttering closed.

Kara is blushing now “You never stop do you?” 

Lena gets another picture of her, loving the flush in her cheeks.

“Why do you take so many pictures of me?”

“You’re just, such a good model.” She doesn’t let the compliment linger “Plus, I need something to tide me over when you’re away.”

“You could always just… come to the fight in Gotham.”

Lena is shocked for a few different reasons “First, no showing your body to convince me.” Kara smiles deviously and puts the covers back over her chest “Second, what happened to boundaries?”

Kara sits up in bed and lets the covers fall completely off again “You’re my good luck charm.”

Lena sits next to her on the bed, stopping her hands from reaching out “Third,” She continues, her resolve already waning “Won’t people notice?”

“That the person who has a stake in a company is coming out and supporting the best female fighter from said company? It’s not that much farther than Star City, I know Lex will come to watch me fight Kate, why can’t you?”

She ignores the title of ‘best’ Kara’s given herself “I,” Lena kisses a line between Kara’s breasts “Run the venue side of things. Just make sure that things run smoothly.”

“As you’ve told me a million times whenever I got worried about how this might look.”

“A million times is an exaggeration.”

Kara just gives her an impatient glare.

“Okay, for fucks sake, I’ll come.”

Kara smiles at her with bad intentions “Oh yes you will.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I do not like angst.  
> I am also very aware of how long Winter is supposed to last, humour me.  
> Anyways, I'll see ya'll next week when I post again

She’s half done packing for Gotham when she hears a knocking at her door.

_Right_

Opening her door reveals the small group of people she trusts and loves in this world.

Felicity is holding some kind of casserole, and barges past Lena “No time for pleasantries, this thing needs to be in the oven.”

Thea is holding a bottle of tequila and a birthday cake, and Lucy has a huge slab of ham, in a turkey cooking dish of all things.

She lets them in and gives a double take to Lucy.

“I just moved, so I’m a little lacking in the cooking materials.” She looks over Lena’s subpar kitchen instruments “Not that you can really judge.”

“Fair.”

For all the grief she gave her, Lucy’s ham is really good. Felicity’s casserole is… lacking, but she knows better than to tell her. The few tequila shots have her glad she’s taking the train tonight.

Feeling full and content, she sits back in her chair to watch her friends terrorize each other “No way I can convince you guys to come earlier?”

Lucy cringes “Gotham is scary, I’m going for the day, then heading back.”

Lena is glad to at least have her for the day “And Thea, no way-“

“Nope.”

Felicity laughs “I’m just going to support Barry, you couldn’t pay me to stay in Gotham.”

And she’s not talking in hypotheticals, Bruce Wayne tried to have her run the tech division at Wayne Corp with a staggeringly large salary, and she -not so politely- declined.

“I admit defeat. Mind cleaning up while I finish packing?”

..

“You’re going to Gotham for her?” Thea asks, nonverbally backed up by Felicity and Lucy.

“Don’t you guys have your own houses?” Lena asks, packing the rest of her clothes as they put away the potluck dinner.

Felicity scoffs “You offered to host, and we all know about the _situation_.”

Lena zips her luggage closed and points them to the living room “Alright. Let’s talk then.” She sits on the kitchen counter to look at them on the couch, the couch that her and Kara have spent a weird amount of time on considering how close the bed is. She smiles at it, and the memories of being at Kara’s place on her couch, away from everything.

“That.” Thea nearly yells “That’s what I’m talking about. I’ve haven’t seen you look this happy in such a long time.”

Lena gives her a shrug “I’ll say this. Talking to Kara, being with her, has helped me move past Jack a lot. Admitting things to her and sharing in pain. She’s been a huge help, and I really want her in my life, sex or no sex.” They’re all eating at her words like the second they look away she’ll stop “But, I don’t have a romantic interest in her. I don’t really date women, and she’s no exception.”

Lucy groans “You’re killing me. Why not? Date the poor girl, she’s clearly into you but too scared to admit it.”

“As much as I usually enjoy the prying into my personal life, this isn’t the time. I have a train to catch.” If she told them who with, they might yell at her.

..

She gets her driver to take her to the train station. On the way, she looks out the window at National City, enjoying the thaw that’s bringing new life and greenery to the streets. She does a last panicked check for her camera and all of the things she’ll need, then leans back into the seat, content for now, and looking forward to being out of the city for a few weeks.

Through the tinted windshield, she can see Kara waiting in the cold with her suitcase. Lena steps out and lets her driver grab the suitcases she brought.

“Lena!” Kara’s face forms into a dazzling smile when she sees her.

She moves forward for a hug, then hesitates, Lena closes the distance and hugs her tightly. They’re allowed to be friends, and she hugs her friends all the time. Kara’s usual warmth is offset by the lasting Spring chill.

Once they’re in their train car, with the door closed and all listening ears silenced, she kisses Kara. “Hi.”

Kara smiles at her with some giddiness on her face “Hi.”

It feels… different. Like they’re really going on this trip _together_ , and that there’s no real justifications of work.

Kara starts scrolling through a tablet that’s chained to the table in their train seating area. “Want to get something?”

Lena takes her coat off and lets the warmth of the train, and Kara’s company, lull her into a sense of security. “I have everything I need right here.”

“Oh?”

She moves forward, liking the idea of this being a holiday and not some work expense. “ _Everything_.” She unzips Kara from her jacket.

Kara holds up a hand, and Lena stops “It’s just, won’t people hear us?”

Lena blushes, knowing she’ll have to confess “I booked us for this time so that we could have some privacy.”

Taking the hint, Kara pulls Lena into her lap “Food after?”

Lena makes a noise of approval into the deep kiss that Kara brings her into. The train starts to move just as Kara is getting into Lena’s pants. She looks briefly at the city she’s leaving behind just to get laid. A teasing thumb makes her consider the truth, she could get laid in the city with no problem, she just can’t manage a week without _this_.

Kara presses her against the window and works a hand from her front and back, making Lena putty in her hold. “Say I’m the best female fighter.”

“N-“ She bites her lip to stop the gleeful noise trying to escape “No.”

With the kind of focus that Kara has for Lena and opponents, her efforts are tripled. Next to her ear, with breaths of effort and concentration “Say it.”

She can feel her body ready to give in just as much as her mouth is ready to give in to the demands. But the petty part of her is winning, the one that likes this weird torture. “No.”

Then there’s fingers in her, curling and rubbing at the moaning mess she’s become. “Say it.”

It’s building to an unbearable level “You’re the best.”

With a thumb finding exactly the right spot, she comes apart, face meeting the glass with relief. Kara helps her down onto a seat and lays a blanket from the overhead compartment on her shivering body.

“It’s not,” Lena makes herself snug and lies down as she shivers more “I’m not cold. Just from you.”

Kara licks her fingers “While that’s a great seal of quality, I don’t want to cause a scandal when I order food.”

More comfortable than she’s been in ages, Lena mumbles for Kara to order her something. Then follows it with “Come sit next to me.”

Kara’s face has the surprise that Lena is feeling, but then she smiles and sits next to Lena’s head, playing with her hair as she scrolls through the options. “Nothing healthy for you.” Lena is ready to disapprove when Kara silences her by making circles on her scalp.

“Thank you, Kara.” She feels half asleep with the secure feeling that only Kara can summon lately.

Kara smiles down at her, and hits a spot that makes Lena have to restrain herself from purring like a trained housecat “For getting you onion rings?”

“No. _That’s so unhealthy_. For, for making me feel so safe all the time. Being so good to me.”

“Well, that’s what…”

She can hear the next part already ‘That’s what friends are for.’

“You’re welcome.” Kara says instead “You make me feel really good too. Like maybe I can move forward.”

Lena doesn’t know what or who to blame this openness on “I like being with you.”

Kara leans down and kisses her head. “I like being with you too.”

..

The dreams she has aren’t as sexual as usual.

Her and Kara are going on vacation in Gotham, and for once the crime isn’t actually bad in the city, Kate Kane is there, and she has her hair dyed red for some reason.

Kate walks up to them with her short haircut and her sharp jawline, her _damned_ good looks. “You two make a cute couple.”

Lena lifts her hand to show off an absolutely obnoxious ring “We’re engaged actually.”

..

She wakes in a cold sweat, Kara muttering assuring nothings into her ear. She resents the comfort and worms into it at the same time.

“What’s wrong?” Kara asks in that infuriatingly caring way.

How does she say that _this_ is wrong? That she hates how close they are, how much she loves being with Kara, and that she’s getting confused about this. “Nothing, just a bad dream.”

“Your food is a little cold, but I think you might still like it.”

The sweet smile on Kara’s face needs to be wiped away. Lena brings her face down and kisses her, tasting lemon, and tasting Kara. “I think I’m addicted to kissing you.”

Kara laughs into Lena’s mouth and separates the kiss “Thanks?”

“Stop talking and fuck me.”

..

Kara opens a window slightly, airing out the sex filled cabin.

“It’s cold.” Lena whines.

“Subtlety has basically gone out the window,” Kara laughs at the window she’s just opened “But we should at least half try to keep this secret.”

Lena sits up “You haven’t told anyone, have you?”

Kara slips into her shirt and drops an arm over Lena’s shoulder “I thought Nia might know, but turns out she’s just got a thing for Barney.”

“No one then?”

“I keep my promises. Wouldn’t want to ruin this.” Kara kisses her cheek like evidence is needed.

Whatever their thing is becoming, she feels bad that she’s broken almost all of the rules they’ve set out. Thea, Felicity, and Lucy, know. “Alright. That’s good, because if this got out…”

Kara makes an explosion noise “I know.”

Lena turns to eat her food, trying not to overanalyze Kara’s arm still holding her. It feels like something they would do as couple, and if her nightmare is anything to go by, she’s confused enough about their situation. She stands to go the washroom, walking past the empty seats she so carefully planned to be that way, and finds it easily.

Staring into the mirror, she schools her emotions into something manageable. Not overthinking her friends with benefits situation is proving more difficult than she thought. The amount of time they’ve been seeing each other is getting up there day by day, _a whole month across the hall_ , she hides her face with her hands. That was a _supremely_ stupid idea.

There’s a knock at the door.

“You okay?” Kara is asking, because of course she’s worried.

“Just motion sickness,” She lies “Don’t worry ba-“ _No_ “Buddy.”

There’s a light laugh and then retreating footsteps.

She almost called her babe. It’s too late to back out of this now.

Almost called her babe.

If Kara could just act shitty for half a second, give Lena an easier way to compartmentalize this whole thing.

When she gets back to their spot, Kara has a bright smile, and Lena knows she’ll have no such luck.

“Feeling better?”

Lena nods, and when Kara pats her lap for her to rest her head, she complies. Kara massages circles into her temple, and Lena can’t stop her satisfied hums from sounding off. 

She wakes to Kara standing with a grin, their luggage set out at her feet. “Wakey wakey.”

“Eggs and bakey?”

Kara cocks her head to the side like a confused dog “What?”

Lena stretches and stands, seeing the ancient and gothic city waiting for them in the dark. “I’ll call us an Uber, taxis here are… well hopefully you don’t already know.” She pulls out her phone.

Kara hoists the majority of the luggage easily, making Lena feel an extra urge to get to their room. 

_Their separate rooms_. She reminds herself. Lena grabs the remaining suitcase and rolls it behind Kara, feeling possessive overtones in the way she can’t stop staring at her back.

As they step off the train, Kara turns and smiles “I can feel you staring at me. There’s not much to see under this jacket.”

Lena shrugs “Can you blame a girl for trying?”

Kara winks “Not at all.”

..

Once they’re actually at the hotel, rooms a few doors down from each other, she doesn’t want to sleep with Kara. Kara yawns as she drops Lena’s luggage in her room.

“Tired too?”

Kara nods “Glad it’s not just me.”

“See you in the morning?”

Kara looks ready to nod again, then stutters in her movement to leave “Want me to stay?”

“Well… I just don’t really have the energy right now… for that. Not that I don’t want to do that in the morning, or like, any other time.”

Kara laughs “Is that what I sound like?” She half unslings her backpack, like it’s her offer to stay in Lena’s room “I know you sleep better with me, no sex required.”

“I hate that you know me so well.”

Kara presses a kiss to the corner of her mouth and drops her luggage on Lena’s floor “No you don’t.”

..

In a state halfway between asleep and awake, she holds tight to the form next to her, unbearably happy to be warmed by her in such an encompassing way. She kisses into Kara’s hair, kisses her neck, kisses her back.

Kara stirs and turns to look at Lena, her face the black outline of a shadow, her smile seemingly hovering in place. “Change your mind babe?”

_No. Babe?_

The word makes her heart start to hammer in her chest, and she flinches back at the sentiment and heat that the simple word provides. “No.” Her voice comes out crackly, and she can feel tears starting to form. “Just, thank you.” She says, more convincingly.

Kara kisses her, and closes her eyes “Night then.”

“Goodnight.”

And with Kara rubbing soft circles into her scalp, she sleeps, once again hating how the cause of her anxieties is the one who’s calming them.

..

Kara is basically bouncing around the room when she wakes up “Oh thank goodness. I really want to check out Gotham.”

Lena smiles at the way her ponytail is bouncing around “I can see.”

Kara stops her bounce with a frown, like a kid whose turn is over on the bouncy house.

Lena gets out of the bed and stretches, extending into a position more flexible than necessary to see if she can entice Kara.

It seems she’s successful, Kara is bordering on drooling. “I could. I could use another shower.”

“Oh really?” Lena moves past her to the washroom and starts the shower. She can hear clothes drop to the floor behind her and smiles, getting in before the shower is fully warmed just to urge Kara on further.

Kara opens the curtain, about to take her hair out of the ponytail.

“Wait.” Lena stops Kara’s hand and holds it in her own in a way that sends a weird flutter to her heart “I want to see your face.”

Kara smirks “You see my face all the time.” She makes the outline of a camera with her fingers, adding in some clicking noises for emphasis.

Lena leans into the crook of Kara’s shoulders “I just,” She feels weak for admitting it “I like seeing as much of you as I can.” She kisses Kara’s neck “And I get more access to your neck.” She pulls back to look at Kara’s expression, who is dumbstruck, and a few other things that Lena can’t quite place, but has seen before.

Kara’s gaze focuses, and she pulls Lena to her “Thought you were going soft on me for a second there.”

Lena meets her eye “I don’t want it soft.”

A hand grabs Lena’s hair in a bunch and Kara pushes her into the tile, that she’s being rough and also cradling her head…

“Fuck me Kara.”

Fingers go inside with no resistance.

“Harder.”

She needs to pretend that Kara isn’t, well _Kara._ And the way that Kara is looking at her isn’t helping.

“Harder.”

Pounding away at her, Kara still has this stare of affection on her face, so Lena buries her face in Kara’s neck.

“I said _harder_.”

This time Kara really listens, and works her with almost angry fingers. Lena falls into her, gasping Kara’s name, and becoming liquid in her touch. As she continues saying Kara’s name in tiny whispers, she realizes her plan to pretend that this isn’t Kara worked horribly. Then the exact right amount of shampoo is being lathered into her hair. Maybe this is just what it feels like to be _really_ good friends with a girl. She leans into Kara’s chest, letting her do what she’s done so many times before.

..

Kara is back to her giddy self from earlier in the morning, making Lena smile as she gets ready for the day.

“So,” Lena yells from the bathroom “What’s first on the list?”

“There’s no aquariums in National City, so I figured this would be the natural choice.”

Lena peeks out to see Kara presenting an aquarium pamphlet. “Aren’t aquariums usually really bad for the fish?”

“This one is owned by Bruce Wayne and Arthur Curry. I figure Arthur got his nickname for a reason.”

“Yes, Mr. _Aquaman_ is actually quite good with the ocean preservation.” Lena admits, realizing she’s already been convinced.

“And,” Kara stands from the bed and puts her glasses on “Before you ask, no one will recognize me.”

And another admittance, she’s tired of them hiding all the time. “We’re allowed to be friends.”

Kara raises an eyebrow “I’d like to think we’re at _least_ that already.”

“That’s not what I meant. I mean more, don’t bother with the disguise. Let the paparazzi do their thing. Once the documentary comes out, they’ll realize they’ve been overthinking.”

Kara fails to hide a frown, then transitions it into a grin “Speaking of which, you ready to be interviewing me tomorrow?”

“I completely forgot, to be honest.”

Kara lets her hair loose from the ponytail and leaves her glasses on the end table “Sure you won’t get sick of me? Spending so much time together?”

 _Never_ she thinks to say “Doing good so far.”

..

The front desk of the place is very kid like, sporting a talking starfish and a lifebuoy that looks cartoonish. Naturally, Kara is ecstatic.

“I’m so excited.”

And Lena has ebbed some of that excitement for herself, fighting a smile. Then, when her and Kara can finally grab tickets and Kara practically runs to the counter, she smiles widely.

“Two tickets please.” Kara looks up at the board that shows price ranges and areas “All inclusive. Adults, obviously.” The cashier looks overwhelmed “I meant to say hello. Sorry, I’ve just never been to an aquarium.”

The cashier is still sporting a wide eyed look “It’s not that. It’s just, you’re Kara Danvers.”

Kara smiles and shakes his hand “That I am. Nice to meet you,” She looks down to his nametag “Ocean? Wow, that’s a fitting name for an aquarium.”

As the man stammers, Lena just leans on the counter, content to watch Kara charge through this interaction with her well intentioned lack of grace.

“That’s just the work name, we all have to pick a water based one, and I’m not very creative.”

Kara shrugs “Creative enough to choose it first. Own it Ocean.”

“Can I get a picture with you?”

Kara looks to Lena, who instinctively goes for her camera. Kara rolls her eyes “He needs to see them before it’s been a week.”

Flustered, Lena takes her phone out and waits for Ocean to round the counter and have his co-worker take over what has now become a considerable lineup.

Kara puts a friendly arm on his back, and the man looks ready to combust. Lena knows he’ll regret looking constipated in his picture, so she thinks to her limited repertoire of jokes.

“Funny to have the co-owner taking pictures.”

Kara laughs and jostles Ocean “She’s really good at it, don’t sweat it.”

Ocean calms, and Lena struggles to find some puns to use with that.

They both smile at the camera, and Lena gets it on her first go. “Got it.” She shows him the picture, and Kara hugs him.

“Thank you so much.”

She hugs him tighter, lifting him off the ground by accident.

Lena smiles at the man’s red face “What’s your email, Ocean?”

He cocks his head in question.

“So that I can send you the picture.”

“Right.” He looks to the line that’s growing “Brent Zeller at gmail.”

She sends the picture from her work email “You should probably get back to it.”

He nods, smiles at Kara and Lena again, then gets back to his job.

Kara looks to her hands and notices a lack of tickets. “I really don’t want to get back in line.”

“Be still my heart.” Lena puts her hand to her heart to up the ante of drama “Kara Danvers, are you suggesting we do something immoral?”

Kara shoves her while sticking her tongue out “We’ll pay when we leave.”

“Girl scout.”

Kara grabs her hand and walks them to the main section of the aquarium. The area is bathed in blue light as fish of several sizes and species swim to the low sound of classical music. Kara’s attention is immediately taken by a fish that has a bow like shape.

“It’s an angelfish.” Kara answers the unasked question without turning.

“You know a lot about fish?”

Kara smiles, still singularly focused on the fish “Sort of. I just find them fascinating.”

Lena thinks to the fish they’ve eaten together “Does that make eating them weird?”

Kara turns for a brief moment, flashing her a smile “Nope. I don’t eat octopus because they’re way too smart for me to feel okay about it, but everything else is fair game.” She turns back to the fish “I’d even eat mister angelfish.”

Lena bumps her hip to Kara’s and their hands finally part. Lena looks at the intermingling fish, all dancing to their own beat and having their own destination. There’s an order to the madness she’s slowly picking up on, they avoid each other at the last second with quick precision, moving around with grace and beauty she’d never bothered to examine.

When she looks to Kara, there’s a lost and pleased look on her face. “Did I convert you?”

Lena looks back to the fish and swallows any verbal jabs “Yes. I feel trusting you is one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

Kara is walking down to another section, urging Lena to follow with an impatient hand “What does your future look like?”

Lena catches up to Kara “I… I’m not sure. Find a nice guy, settle down. Continue working, get the DEO to be really legitimate, make enough money that I can seriously bankroll some charities that I like.”

Kara stops and leans against a pillar that separates two displays “Two takeaways there. Find a nice guy? No potential for a girl? And, opening a gallery should be in that life plan.”

Lena plays with her hands “I just, I don’t really date women. I love being with women, but the dating thing has never really appealed to me. And the gallery… you and my friends would have a grand time harassing me about that.”

“Rightfully so.” Kara kicks off from the wall “Dating women isn’t that complicated, I’m no expert, but just imagine what we’re doing right now, but romantic.”

Feeling like a high schooler, she looks to a school of fish passing by and takes a deep breath before asking “How would that work?”

Kara stifles a laugh “You’ve been on dates.”

“Yes, but isn’t it like, _different_ with a girl?”

“Not really.” She grabs Lena’s hand and interlocks their fingers “This would be a pretty classic date move.” She moves in and kisses Lena’s cheek “That too.”

Lena hates the blush that she can feel coming “What else?” She knows what else, but a part of her wants to see where this will go.

“I’d say, that you look absolutely stunning in this light, and that I can barely keep my hands off of you even now.”

The blush is now fully formed “You’re quite the charmer.”

She does a ‘so-so’ gesture with her hand “I’m a little out of practice, so that’s good to hear.”

Not wanting to talk about their shared loss, she listens to the music and watches the fish sync in and out with it. “Vivaldi, four seasons, summer one.”

“What?”

Lena points to the speakers “That’s what they’re playing.”

Kara gets her phone from her pocket and lets it listen to the song, a screen flashes up that confirms what Lena already knew would be right.

“Ye of little faith.”

Kara puts her phone away “How’d you know that?”

Lena tries to make a piano gesture and looks to their still joined hands “I uh, used to play piano a lot as a kid. My mother, Lillian, was pretty insistent with it.” 

“You don’t talk about her much.”

For a host of reasons that she doesn’t have the energy or urge to get into. “Yeah, we’re not very close. You already know she doesn’t approve of my ‘lifestyle’.” Lena cringes at admitting the second part.

Kara nods, getting the message to not pry further. “Well, my dad is a loser, so we’ve got parenting issues as another bond.” Kara looks at a flurry of movement that reveals itself to be a starfish “Would you ever play for me?”

“Yes.”

She squeezes Lena’s hand tight in anticipation “Tonight?”

“If you can find a piano.”

“ _Ye of little faith_.” Kara takes her phone out, pushes a button, and presses it to her ear “Hey Barry, do you still have an in with the Gotham Orchestra?” She smiles “Okay, can you let them know I’ll be stopping by at…” She mouths _eight?_ And Lena nods “Eight. Thanks.”

“You’re pulling out all the stops.”

Kara taps her chin “Anything for you.”

Her heart does something it shouldn’t, and she drowns it in her mantra. _Just friends_ “Is that your favourite line to use on people?”

“Just you.”

The rest of the aquarium trip is less eventful, except for the few times that Kara practically swoons over particularly ugly looking fish. Seeing all of the fish has put her in the mood for sushi, but she worries that would be in poor taste.

Kara pokes her in the chest “Wanna grab dinner?”

“Is it bad if I say I want sushi?”

“Oh, thank gosh. I wanted fish too.”

“Great minds.”

Kara makes a show of ordering an Uber instead of a taxi, waving her phone around and shoving it in Lena’s face.

The restaurant is lowkey enough that Lena can relax, and the lack of customers gives Kara a lot of time to pour over the menu. “Crispy California rolls sounds good, right?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you consider food for this long.”

Kara is buried behind the paper menu, and Lena has an urge to push it out of the way so that she can her face. “Well, I just, I very rarely get sushi. And I don’t want to mess it up.”

“How about,” She pushes the menu down and gets to see a tight knit look of concentration that is way too adorable “We just eat mine if you don’t like what you get?”

Kara pouts “When you say it like that it makes me sound stupid.”

Lena kicks her leg under the table “It’s one of the things I love about you.”

Both of them freeze, the weight of the words hanging like a blanket over them. “Good to know my stupidity is amusing at least.”

It does little to stem the tide of awkwardness. The waiter comes to their table and they make their orders, Kara hesitating before asking for the crispy California rolls. Lena asks for dynamite shrimp rolls.

“Yours sounds so much better.” Kara whines.

Lena smiles, happy that they’re back to their banter “I already said you can have some if yours don’t taste good.”

“But then I feel like I’m stealing your food.”

Lena takes Kara’s wildly moving hand in her own “I make a lot of money. I can just order more.”

Kara sighs, calming somewhat. “Okay. Thanks for indulging my craziness.”

“You more than make up for it.” Lena says with a suggestive tone.

This earns her a smile, and it feels normal again, _safe_ , to just talk about sex.

Kara is hilariously bad with chopsticks.

“Have you ever held chopsticks before in your life?”

Kara makes another fumbling attempt to capture her food “Stop making fun of me.”

“Okay. You need to hold them like a pencil, and then use them like tongs.”

“Your instructions suck.” Kara manages to actually grab a piece though “Wipe that look off your face.”

“What look?” Lena chews on a piece herself to avoid showing the look that is most definitely etched on her face.

Kara chews on her piece with a smile.

“I’m assuming it was a good call then?”

She nods happily in response and grabs another piece. The silence as they eat isn’t an awkward one, it’s comfortable.

And before she can stop herself, she rests her foot against Kara’s. She looks to Lena with a flash of surprise, but rests her foot against hers in equal turn.

The comfort she’s feeling needs to be verbalized “Thank you.”

Kara turns her head in question.

“For being there for me. For spending time with me. For helping me heal in small and big ways.”

Their hands are interlocked before she knows it “It’s been a pleasure.”

And her eyes are so soft as they meet, so open, with warmth that she hasn’t seen in years. “We should probably not be _this_ obvious.” Lena untangles their fingers, sharing in Kara’s frown.

Kara snags a few rolls from Lena’s plate, and she pretends to be bothered. Kara swallows the last roll “Piano time?”

Lena rolls her eyes “Shouldn’t we actually pay this time?”

“Oh crap! The aquarium.” Kara drums her fingers against the table “I completely forgot.”

“I didn’t.” Lena admits “I just figured your reaction would be funny.”

Kara takes out her buzzing phone “I guess he wasn’t mad about it.”

“Hm?” Kara hands over her phone, and she sees the picture she took of Kara and Ocean. The comments are going crazy, heart emojis, rainbows. A lot of rainbows actually, she checks the tags, and sees her own name credited as photographer. The comments are starting to make sense.

**_lena and kara?_ **

**_I hope they’re dating_ **

**_They could just be friends_ **

**_Hot hot hot please tell me they’re dating my gay heart will explode_ **

**_Lex and James hang out and no one thinks the two of them are fucking_ **

Lena hands her phone back “Those comments are something else.”

“He’s probably regretting tagging you now. All of the comments are the war between us being a thing and not being a thing.”

Lena sighs “Should I ask him to take it down?”

Kara shrugs and slaps a twenty and a five down “Who cares? I get a piano performance from Lena Luthor herself.”

“If I’m bad.” Lena grabs her purse, doing a paranoid check for the camera “Don’t laugh.”

“As if you’d be bad at anything.”

Lena calls them an Uber “You’re sweet.”

“That I am.”

..

The Gotham Orchestra building is as 1980’s and angular as the rest of the city, towering over them and looking like a place that a supervillain would reside more than a concert hall.

Kara shakes her head with a smile “Gotham.” She leads them to a back entrance, making her way around in the dark without challenge.

Lena realizes Kara must have spent time here with Kate, she thinks to ask, but Kara’s hand has found her own again, and she doesn’t want to spoil the moment.

The inside is equally dark, and after leading Lena through the dark for minutes longer, Kara pauses. “Oh. You probably can’t see anything.”

“Not really.”

Kara hits a switch, and the hallway they’re in is illuminated to an almost blinding degree. There are framed pictures of the current orchestra and ones long past. Bruce Wayne is name dropped a few times for being a charitable doner, some ‘thanks’ thrown around.

Then they make it to the main stage, a piano in the centre with a note on top.

Kara grabs the note and laughs “Says not to break anything.”

Lena places her purse down and does a sarcastic bow “Your wish is my command.”

“You have such a weird sense of humour.” Kara lays on top of the piano “Play something sweet.”

Lena sits at the piano and plays a string of notes to check if she’s seated comfortably “I’m starting with Claire De Lune to make sure I can still play.”

Kara turns her body and props her chin up with a hand “I think you’ll be fine.”

Lena starts playing, her fingers darting from key to key in a flash, she misses a note or two at first, then starts to play comfortably.

Kara watches with focus, smiling as Lena gets more confident. “You’ve still got it.”

“I guess I do.” Lena presses down on a key as she thinks “Any requests?”

“Play me something that your mother would never allow.”

That really just means anything new, so she wracks her brain for one that she heard on Spotify a year back and downloaded the sheet for. “Alright. Naïve Spin.”

“Cool name.”

Lena smiles and gets to playing it, not messing up in the beginning notes like with her first try, even with the unbreaking gaze of admiration that Kara has her pinned with. The piano echoes beautifully through the orchestra hall, reverberating with the freedom of Lillian’s scorn being so far away, so long ago. Her criticisms melt into the background as the foreground, being a gorgeous woman staring at her like she’s the only person in the world that matters, becomes her real focus.

With a long-held note that isn’t in the original song, she ends the performance.

Kara claps enthusiastically, cheering loudly, and mattering more than a crowd ever did.

Lena gets up and does a bow to the empty crowd, then a bow to Kara. Kara, who is still lying on the piano in such a modelesque pose that Lena thinks may have had more than a few different potential avenues in life. Her camera is in her hands before Kara can get wise of what she’s doing, she gets three pictures off in quick succession, then another one of Kara with an embarrassed smile that just makes her more beautiful.

“You just can’t ever stop with that thing, can you?”

Lena puts it down “I could be persuaded.” She pulls Kara’s pants down insistently.

“You’re quite the risk taker Ms. Lena.”

“Don’t call me that, makes you sound like my driver.” Regardless of that, she’s pulling Kara’s _boxers_ off. “Are you wearing boxers?”

“I’m a professional, professionals need to be comfortable.”

Lena kisses up her thigh “What’s the real reason?”

“I genuinely prefer how boxers feel.”

“Why have I never noticed then?”

Kara looks away from her with an embarrassed bite to her lip “I may or may not have started wearing panties more when we started doing this.”

“Having sex, you mean?”

“Well, yes, but I feel-“

She dives in, not wanting to hear the problematic ways those words can change things. Kara looks so good up there on the piano, invoking the image of some 1920’s burlesque singer, but making noises that would get her kicked off stage. She reaches out with desperate hands and tangles them in Lena’s hair, pushing her deeper in. Not one to ignore what Kara wants, she does as directed, making Kara urge her on more aggressively. Her thighs nearly crush Lena’s head when she finally gives in.

Then Kara pushes Lena down and crawls over her chest.

“Maybe,” Lena starts “We should go to our hotel.”

Kara kisses up her collarbone “No.” She licks a line up Lena’s neck and bites at her pulse, sucking down like she wants to steal her heartbeat away. Which, if she’s being honest, she’s very close to doing.

“You,” Lena grunts with the effort of speaking, vaguely aware that her shirt is being unbuttoned “You spoil me.”

“Only you.”

It’s said with animalistic domination, but it makes her heart jitter in her chest. “Say that again.”

Kara is kissing down her chest, lost in her worship.

“Kara.” She takes her face in her hands, forces her to look up “Please, say that again.”

The look in her eyes is enough “Only you.” But she says it again, and it’s more than enough.

On some level, she’s aware that you can orgasm without any below the belt action, then Kara bites on her nipple, and she’s aware on every level. “If you don’t stop, I, I’ll come.”

Kara smiles up at her “Why would I stop then?”

Her neck is probably a mess of bruising, but she doesn’t care, her hips flail to meet something to grind against, _needing_ to feel Kara in more ways than she already can. “Touch me.”

Showing mercy, Kara puts a leg between Lena’s, and allows her to grind.

There’s no stopping it now, she digs her nails into the fabric of Kara’s shirt “Oh _fuck_.” She sprawls out against the floor, satisfied and spent. Kara is murmuring soft nothings into the kisses she presses to her chest. Things like ‘so good’ and ‘like the way you taste’ among the littering of compliments.

Through the haze, she still understands the second part doesn’t make much sense “You didn’t even taste me.”

Kara stops her overwhelmingly perfect kissing “Your skin,” She kisses her stomach “Your lips.” She kisses Lena slowly, sucking on her bottom lip and using her tongue to touch the top. “You’ve got a lot to like.”

“We should go back to the hotel.”

Kara pulls her phone from her back pocket “On it.”

..

Kara tries to leave in the night, but Lena holds her tight in bed, too selfish to be denied the warmth she craves.

“You’re such a cuddle monster.”

“Stop being so comfortable.”

Kara giggles into her hair “How would I do that?”

She doesn’t know how Kara could ever manage to be less comfortable, it’s not even really her body, it’s more of who she is. “If you stopped making me feel safe.”

Even in the dark, she knows that Kara is staring at her, contemplating the words. “I don’t plan on it.”

That’s enough for both of them.

..

Kara is half dressed by the time she wakes. She turns to Lena with a blossoming smile “I ordered you room service.”

Lena wipes sleep form her eyes in a vain attempt to look as put together as her. “That’s very sweet of you.”

“Have to make up for the two day absence.”

This gets her upright “Are you serious?”

“Media is holing up in the room next to mine so that they can get my daily routine.” She smiles at Lena’s clothes that are still thrown around in their teenage levels of want “I think we’d both prefer they don’t know about this part of it.”

“Couldn’t we,” She wracks her brain, feeling desperate “Couldn’t we still see each other?” _as friends_ “You know, like as friends?”

Kara looks torn between something sad and something happy “I’d love to. Surprise me.” The pep in her voice sounds somewhat artificial, but it’s something. “Guess I’ll see you whenever you feel like surprising me.”

Lena smiles at her as she peeks both ways before leaving the room.

.. 

She takes the subway to the arena, knowing she should at least partly justify her excuse for coming here early.

The subway is well kept, and not as creepy during the day time as she’d expect. She takes some pictures when they surface into the light, shadows lying on the rain marked stone buildings in a way that makes her think of movies she would watch with her dad. The sun blinds her during a few of the shots, but as she’s learning with Kara, sometimes it’s good to just take a leap of faith.

_Jesus_

She sounds like a lovesick schoolgirl.

Zooming the camera in gets her a view of some people playing at a park, a couple having a makeshift picnic, and a guy who’s really intensely skipping rope. She takes a picture of him even though it’s a waste of film. The subway sounds off that the next stop is approaching, and if online maps are as reliable here as anywhere else, it’s her stop.

The daylight is at an orange hue, setting quickly and meaning that she’ll need an Uber back if she wants to stay safe. She allows herself a deep sigh, and makes her way to the Gotham Central Arena.

On the walk over, she notes a few places that would make good places for their March get together gifts.

She stops and takes stock of them mentally. Dog toys for Lucy’s dog, some kitchen stuff, and a longboard so that she can pick that back up. Alcohol and alcohol related things for Thea, with that… maybe an archery bow accessory kit. Felicity is always tough to buy for, her income and internet savviness meaning she already has what she wants ninety percent of the time.

Then it clicks, something cheesy. She’ll put Felicity’s company on the main line of promotional material for the Rocket’s Arena, just to make her feel more loved. And to stick it to Morgan, the pompous ass.

She makes it to the arena just as it gets well and truly dark, and phones Lucius Fox. “Lucius, it’s getting scary out here.”

A door opens, and she can hear music coming through. “Ms. Luthor.”

She graciously walks in, happy to be away from the creeping darkness “If you insist on being Lucius, know that I insist on being Lena.”

He nods and smiles “I guess this is the best way to show you the capacity and sound design.”

“With Post Malone?” She knew there was going to be someone playing during the tour, just not that it would be someone so popular.

“He has a nice voice.” Lucius defends, surprising her.

“Hey,” She raises her hands as he holds another door for her “Nothing against him, just not my type of music.”

“Very businesslike of you to say.”

Also true, but that’s not important “Show me the sound room please, then some sections where I won’t go deaf.” He frowns “I seriously have nothing against his music, I just don’t have earplugs.”

This whole thing feels like a disaster, but at this point, through is the only way forward.

The sound room is top of the line, and she feels like Gotham really has been changing. “You have the same sound design as the Gotham Orchestra.”

This, for the first time, seems to gain Lucius’ approval “You’ve been?”

“Me and Kara went actually.”

He nods “Always nice to see people enjoying the art Gotham has to offer. Bruce Wayne and Kate Kane have been working very hard to restore some glory to this city, and I feel they’ve been doing a good job.”

“They have. And I mean this in the nicest way, the place is a lot nicer than when I was a teenager.”

He smiles at her “Then I will only take it in the nicest way. I still wouldn’t recommend the subway at night, but I think you’ll find the taxis have stopped robbing their customers.”

She’s still not willing to risk it, but it’s nice to hear.

He hands her a package of earplugs “I was only messing with you.” And puts a set in himself.

The stairs are even nicer than the last time she was here “The sound quality is great.”

“Yes, we revamped a lot of things here, made it so that we don’t have quite so much reverb.”

She swallows her comment on just how bad it used to be “I’m impressed Lucius, I’d heard a lot of good things about you, but doing something like this in retirement while I can barely manage it now…”

“You undersell yourself Lena.”

“I hear that enough and I might start to believe it.”

He says something that’s hard to hear over the earplugs and music. 

She yells for him to repeat himself.

“Listen to whoever else is telling you that.”

She smiles, thinking of the person who’s been making her believe it lately.

..

In her hotel room, she realizes structuring the whole trip around someone who has a busier schedule than her probably wasn’t the brightest idea in retrospect. But, Kara did say to bother her ‘as a friend’ for them to go out and enjoy themselves.

**_Lena:_ ** **I’m taking you out for lunch**

**_Kara Danvers:_ ** **That means the camera crew comes too**

She looks at her empty room, and gets up, ignoring the other messages. She knocks on Kara’s door, and gets a face full of camera before Kara bats it out of the way.

“Lena!” She grabs her and brings her into a hug “What do you have planned for lunch?”

“Only one camera.” She stares at Mxy “And ribs.”

Kara grabs her coat and leaves the rest of the camera crew to figure out their afternoon “I feel like I go to most of my meals with you nowadays.”

“Ha ha,” She looks to the trailing camera “Just such good friends.”

Kara laughs and leans in “The camera’s microphone isn’t good enough to hear us that far.”

Lena sighs with relief and leans in further “Can I see you tonight?”

“I have half an hour when I get back from training.”

Lena smiles, feeling ready already “I can make that work.”

..

Outside, the one camera has her more on edge than the multiple ones they usually have trailing them.

“Sooo,” Kara pushes the weight on her feet back and forth “Where are you taking me?”

 _Just friends_ “Learn some patience. Even when I was your age, I never had such a-“ She grabs Kara and holds her still “Problem with waiting every once in a while.”

Kara nudges her shoulder “You also didn’t train professionally to beat up other women at my age. Too busy being smart I guess.”

“And you were too busy being beautiful for any of that studying nonsense.”

“Lena.” She waits for her to turn “You know my grades were exceptional. I’m more than a pretty face.”

“Much more.” And, oh god, was that suggestive? Are they flirting? Do _just friends_ do this?

The Uber arrives to alleviate the thoughts crashing around in her mind. They slot in together, the camerawoman trying, and failing, to not push her camera into their faces with the close proximity. 

Kara nudges into her more than necessary, making her relationship with the door even closer than she’d prefer “Lena, seriously, where are we going?”

“Ms. Danvers, please find yourself some patience.”

“No.”

She squishes Lena into the door more, and Lena has the faint idea that the camerawoman as well as the Uber driver, are looking at them. “I _am_ the co-owner of the company you work for.”

“You control marketing and venues, as you love to tell me, the most you can do is give me a bad angle.” Kara juts her jaw out “If I had one.”

Knowing she’s right, Lena sticks her tongue out. Kara’s eyes dart down to it, and when their eyes meet, she knows they’re thinking of the same thing. She hopes Mxy will let her cut into his documentary just to get rid of the romantic- no, _sexual_ , moments. “An inflated ego doesn’t look good on you.”

“Yes, it does actually.”

And, damn her, it does.

“No way!”

It seems they’ve arrived.

Kara climbs over Lena and scrambles out of the car “You got a reservation? How?”

Minetta Tavern is notoriously hard to get a table at but, “I’m Lena Luthor, I pulled some strings.” She follows Kara out with a smile.

Kara gives her a look that says this would be a kissing moment, she instead opts for a hug “Thank you, Lena.”

She lets her tone get sarcastic “Anything for the _best female fighter_.”

Kara blushes, clearly thinking of all the different contexts that’s been said in.

Having to fight surprisingly hard to not hold Kara’s hand, they walk in together, the camera tailing them.

Once seated, Kara turns to the camera with a grin “A day in the life of Kara Danvers isn’t complete without Lena.”

Lena looks to the camera with a deadpan expression “She says she wont compete if I stop being her friend.”

The woman behind the camera laughs, and Kara cackles like a witch. It’s a rare occasion, but Lena landed a joke. The place is not at all casual, so the camera sticks out like a sore thumb, people in suits staring at the weird trio, a buff girl in workout clothes, a giant television camera, and a smartly dressed Lena Luthor.

Kara leans over to Lena “People are taking pictures.”

“Look at us, who wouldn’t?”

“You do look quite… nice today.” She looks Lena over in a barely subtle way “Dress pants are flattering.”

Lena leans back in her chair and lets her hair down, being sure to show off her neck as much as possible. “Oh, this old thing?”

Kara crumples her napkin and pushes her legs together with visible strain. “Yup. Looks nice.”

They make their orders in a somewhat normal way, even with Lena playing footsies under the table in an effort to distract her.

Kara looks between her lap, and then up at Lena.

**_Kara Danvers:_ ** **Bathroom. Now**

Lena pushes her chair back and saunters to the washroom, pleased with herself and deeply satisfied.

She waits for what is almost definitely a counted down two minutes, and then Kara is in the washroom, locking the door behind her. “You little-“

“Shit?” Lena leans against the sink island with a smirk “Oh were you going to say meany? Because you don’t seem to be able to move past the girl scout view on swearing.”

Kara pulls her pants down in one swift motion “You swear enough for the both of us.”

“Oh god yes.”

Fingers control her like a puppet, making her swear in every way that she knows how at the skilled hands urging her on.

Kara works just under her shirt, meaning she’s thinking clearly enough to not make it _so_ obvious. “Now come for me.”

“Bite me.”

Kara cocks an eyebrow as she pulls back ever so slightly “What?”

“Literally bite me. Right fucking now.”

Kara bites into her shoulder, sucking on the centre of her impact in a wet sound. The noises topple her over what semblance of control she still had, and Kara covers her mouth, kissing Lena’s neck as she makes muffled cries of ecstasy into her hand.

She watches as Kara washes her hands and makes an effort to appear normal in the mirror. Lena on the other hand, is still reeling, fighting for a full breath and struggling to stay upright. “Wow.”

Kara looks back to her and smiles “You started it.”

Lena ignores the schoolyard blaming and finally turns to look in the mirror. She’s definitely showing signs of what happened, her hair is a mess, her lipstick is a mess, and she has a crazed look in her eyes that only worsens when she sees Kara’s interested stare.

“Stop that.”

Kara pouts “What?”

“Looking so…” Lena gestures wildly to the general aspect of her “You know.”

Kara steps into her space “Say it.”

She looks _up_ , up, even with heels “So hot.”

“Yup.” Kara leaves the washroom, leaving Lena to pick up the pieces.

Eventually, she emerges, looking somewhat better. The camerawoman is filming Kara as she takes a generous bite of her burger. She says something about an athlete needing to burn a lot of excess calories, charming Lena more than it should.

She sits, her salad looking pitiful in comparison to Kara’s hulking monstrosity of food.

Kara swallows with effort “And here we have Lena, who has to be the most consistently boring person when it comes to food.”

“Hey. I like when you cook just fine.”

They realize the blunder at the same time, staring at each other with wide eyes.

“Well,” Kara starts “Crashing on my couch is punishment enough.”

The woman looks out from her camera, clearly unconvinced.

..

Once they make it back to the hotel, the camera has thankfully left their orbit.

Lena stands outside of Kara’s room, teetering close to a panic attack. “She definitely knows. And now they have it on video.”

Kara seems unbothered “I. I honestly don’t really care if people know at this point. I haven’t told anyone, but we both make each other really happy, and my fighting speaks for itself. So, why worry?”

“How can you talk like that? If people know we’re hooking up there’s going to be a media frenzy.”

Kara leans against her door and sighs “First, let’s be honest, this is more than _hooking up_. And we got hounded by the media even when they didn’t know it was me. We’re good looking women, and no matter who we date, there’s going to be media. That’s just our sad reality.”

“We’re not dating.”

“I refuse to believe that you just look at this as hooking up.”

She’s right, that this has developed into something more. But that nagging voice in the back of her head is sounding off again _just friends **just friends**_ “You… well you’ve been making me very happy. I won’t deny that.”

Kara opens her door “Okay. See you tomorrow?”

“Tonight?”

Kara half steps in “We would only be sleeping. Goes against your whole narrative of _hooking up_.”

She sounds bitter “I’m sorry I said that. You’re… you’re very dear to me. And I sleep better with you by my side.”

Kara laughs “Using _dear_ unironically works more than you’d think.” She lets the door start to close “See you tonight.”

..

Sheepishly, she knocks on Kara’s door. From the other side, she can hear a muffled yell that it’s unlocked. Lena enters into the dark, not scared because she knows who’s waiting for her. She kicks her shoes off and gets under the covers. While she makes herself snug with the solid mass of warmth beside her, it really settles, that this isn’t just hooking up. She wants Kara to stay in her life, and ending this may be the only way to do that.

Kara turns to her with a dopey smile “Lena Luthor. You make me a very happy girl.”

It’s a self-centered decision, but she can’t bring herself to end this. She knows that the deeper they get into this, the more that Kara is going to develop feelings. But. Lena squeezes her tight. This is too good to give up, the security she feels, the back and forth that they have.

With selfish and confused thoughts, she falls asleep.

As per what has now become an almost frightening normal, Kara is up and already half ready.

“See you in a few hours.” Lena mumbles into the pillow.

“Goodbye for now.” Kara kisses her forehead in a way that can’t be described as anything but domestic.

Another confusing bout with her dreams, and Lena finally gets up, the blare of her alarm egging her on. She goes to her room, that feels more like a storage area than a room, and gets herself ready for the cameras.

She stares in the mirror - _just friends_ \- her mantra feeling more ineffectual with each time she repeats it.

The cab ride to Kara’s temporary gym is one that she anxiously muddles through.

‘Robin’s Retreat’ is the name presented on the front of the gym, and with a heavy heart, she enters.

Cameras pan over to her, invading her personal space, and her own personal comfort level. Despite that, she makes a brave face and smiles at them. “Lena Luthor here for Kara Danvers.”

Once the words are out, she realizes how true the words are. She’s really staying in the most dangerous city in America just to spend more time with her. With this realization, she has another, that even knowing how complicated things are getting, she wouldn’t have stopped this. 

J’onn greets her with a smile, being characteristically kind, and guiding her to Kara. Idle talk about her training routine is picked up by the cameras, and somewhat acknowledged by Lena, her thoughts a mess.

Kara is sparring with her sister, diving out of the line of punches and smashing Alex’s padded head with punches in answer. Alex glances at Lena, and Kara turns to her with a huge smile, getting a solid punch to the head as consequence.

She shakes it off “Lena!”

Lena smiles earnestly “Kara. Good to see you.”

She brings Lena into a half hug “Yeah, because it’s been such a long time.”

“You’re probably still digesting that burger.”

Kara cringes “Gross visual.” She gestures to the gym “It’s technically owned by Wayne Corp through some legal mumbo jumbo, but the owner Mr. Grayson was kind enough to let us rent it out.”

Lena sits on the edge of the boxing ring “You going to let us in on why you needed to be here for a week?”

Kara sits next to her, the distance between them clearly thought out “Honestly? All about headspace, getting into her head and understanding where she comes from. I’m kind of friends with Kate, but I don’t understand her fight mindset. Training with Gotham locals is helping me get her, and prepare.”

Lena nods, soaking in the information.

“The real question,” Kara has a wry smile on her face “Is why are _you_ staying in Gotham for a week?”

“For you.” _Oh fuck_. Kara looks blindsided at Lena’s truth, and now it’s been long enough she can’t play it off easily “For business, obviously.”

Repeating her internal lie aloud seems to convince the camera crew as much as it’s been convincing Lena, so as to say, not at all.

Kara nods along “Want to meet the trainers?”

“Um, yes, definitely.”

The talk with the trainers goes smoothly, Kara directing the shellshocked Lena through conversation and making her look less like the blubbering idiot she’s made herself out to be. She meets Dick Grayson, says some base nice things, and gets props for not making a joke about his name, though she feels her brain is too fried to even think of one.

Mxy and the camera crew leave, and she knows they’re making comments, knows how compromised she’s made their whole situation. She takes Kara to the side, aware of the looks that Alex is throwing their way.

“Kara, I am _so_ sorry.”

She takes Lena’s hands in a soft hold “Would it be so bad if people knew?”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Of course, it would be terrible if people knew that we were sleeping together.”

“Terrible? You say I’m a big part of your life, then you tell me it would be terrible if people found out,” Kara looks up and lets out an exasperated sigh “Just. Stick to a narrative, right now you’re confusing me.”

She steels herself “We’re friends that have sex. Friends go to dinner, hang out.”

“I don’t know who you’re lying to at this point, but I know you don’t believe it.”

“It’s the truth.” She hopes.

Kara’s body slacks “Okay.”

They both know it’s anything but, Lena needs to believe it though “See you tonight?”

Kara shakes her head, looking close to tears “Fight night. I need to spend some time with my sister.”

“Okay.”

..

She drags herself back to her hotel, takes a sad ride up the elevator. Once in her room she looks at everything in it. Kara’s glasses, Kara’s goddamn shirt, her smell everywhere. It’s not even her own room anymore.

She rips the lamp out of its socket and swings it into a wall, feeling a satisfying wave of force up her arm as she takes out her frustrations on the wall. While she’s at it- And before she can put too much thought into it, she launches the lamp into the television, it cracks in a spiderweb pattern, holding the lamp for a brief moment before it falls out with a shower of glass.

“FUCK!”

She topples the TV off of its base, screaming as she does it. A mirror is thankfully there for her to smash the TV into. Shards fall in an angry rain, splashing the TV.

Lena collapses onto her bed, breaths coming out ragged, tears wanting to fall for a reason she’s too scared to examine.

..

Surprisingly she hasn’t been kicked out of the hotel. They’ve just changed her room and taken out the TV.

She knocks on Kara’s door, hating how much she needs to see her after whatever happened last night.

Kara looks _almost_ the same as her usual self. There’s a line of worry on her face that looks foreign, that she knows is her own fault.

“I’m sorry.”

Kara moves aside to let her in “Hey, nothing to apologize for, you were just being honest. Right?”

She steps in and reaches out to touch Kara, the door slams shut, halting her hands and causing her to wring them instead “I. I think lines are getting blurred that we agreed shouldn’t.”

Kara smiles tiredly “You mean those rules we made?”

“That was such a long time ago. Things were so much simpler then, and I wish we had stuck to them more.”

“I still haven’t told anyone. The only one I’m guilty of breaking…” Kara looks ready to say something big, then stops herself “Is the times we do things in public.”

Lena sits on the bed, then regrets the angle of Kara literally looking down on her “My friends figured it out a few months ago.” She leaves out the way they seem to be obsessed with this escalating into something more. “It wasn’t intentional, but they all know. Well _actually_ ,” She looks away from Kara for this part “I basically told Lucy, because she’s my best friend.”

Kara sighs “I want to start by saying I’m not mad, just… confused, again. You say that we can’t have people know, but you’ve told all of your friends. You do get the mixed signals there, right?”

“If it’s any consolation, I’m not actively trying to a hypocrite.”

Kara gets into bed, things are too confusing for them to have sex right now, so Lena cuddles up to her, and even that feels strange. Once Kara has fallen asleep, Lena clicks the table lamp light off. Impulsively, she kisses Kara’s head. _Just friends_ feeling like a more ineffectual mantra with each moment.

_I don’t like women that way_

She tells herself, knowing at least that to be true.

..

Kara is gone when she wakes, a text on Lena’s phone saying she needs some space right now while they figure things out.

She grabs at the sheets in frustration of how weird that things have gotten. This trip was such a stupid idea.

**_Lena:_ ** **Good luck. I think you’ll do fantastic**

Even the text feels weird. Who the hell says fantastic? She lays in bed for hours, heart never letting her forget just how fast it’s beating.

Her phone buzzes to life, several texts. She checks it frantically, and then deflates, none of them are from Kara. Which _shouldn’t matter_. All of her friends are here, she should be excited. With concentrated and laboured effort, she gets out of bed and sluggishly gets to her own room, Kara’s glasses staring at her. Why she hasn’t returned them is beyond her.

..

In the mirror, she looks like the put together Luthor that she presents to the world. Nothing like the mess of warring emotions that she dragged in.

Her friends want to barhop near the arena, and the alcoholic college student that still resides in her takes them up on the offer, needing a distraction from her own bullshit for a few hours.

..

Three shots down, and she hasn’t thought of Kara for an hour. She groans aloud, realizing thinking of not thinking of her is _still_ thinking of her.

“When did my life get so confusing?”

Thea bites into a slice of lime after her shot “Probably when you started dating a smoke show of a celebrity.”

Lena takes another shot “I swear you guys are less straight than you think.”

Lucy smiles and nudges into Felicity “She didn’t even counter the _dating_ part.”

Lena points and she can feel anger seeping into her voice “We are _not_ dating.”

Lucy holds up hands of surrender, but Lena can see that she still thinks she’s right, and in the moment, she hates her for it.

Lena puts her chin down to her folded arms “I feel so childish lately.”

The trio look at her with open expressions, and that combined with the alcohol have her spilling it out.

“I trashed my room, I’m crying over a fuckbuddy, and I, I just feel stupid for this whole thing.”

Felicity has a barely contained look of pity on her face “Have you ever considered just trying to date her? And don’t give me that speech about not dating girls, you’re basically dating already.”

“But I really don’t. I don’t have romantic feelings with girls.”

“But…” Thea supplies.

“I think if we don’t change something soon, I’m going to completely lose her. And I want- god I might even need her in my life.”

Lucy taps her on the shoulder “You’re confusing.”

“I know.”

Thea is giving off the aura of someone actually acting their age “You’ll figure it out.”

“When did you become so sage?”

“When you stopped.”

Lena loudly sighs “That’s quite the nail in the coffin.”

..

Drunk. Seems to be the default state for her when she has to deal with anything overly emotional. A problem she can deal with later.

The place looks up to snuff, large banners showcasing the fighters not looking tacked onto the side of the building, but rather an extension. The music is echoing through the entrances in a way that promises more to come.

“Damn. I’m good at my job.”

Felicity claps her on the back “That you are.”

They take their seats, and she can feel excitement overriding her other less discernible emotions. 

Lex sits and looks Lena up and down with a concerned look “You and Kara having trouble?” _Lex_ knows, and he laughs at Lena’s aghast face “Just be careful Lena.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“Oh, Lena. He can’t help you now.”

..

Winn’s announcements seem to be gaining enthusiasm the further they get into the season.

Barry comes out to great fanfare, the favourite for how nice he is on top of his good looks, his skill probably having something to do with it.

Jason Todd comes out next, his red hood doing nothing to change his seemingly permanent scowl.

The contrast almost makes her laugh out loud.

Lex does the job for her though, laughing loud enough to turn heads “Wayne kids. I swear Dick is the only one with a sense of humour.”

Lena smiles “With a name like that, he kind of has to.”

He laughs “If you’re wondering, that right there is the first clue I had. Then the footage they keep sending over where the two of you make heart eyes at each other.”

“What do you mean clue?”

Winn is announcing the stats, presenting the two fighters with his usual flair.

“Lena do you even pay attention to the fights anymore?”

 _Not the introductions_ “Answer me.”

“You’re happier. Actually land some jokes. You radiate the energy of someone who’s learning to love again.”

“We’re not-“

“Respect my intelligence enough to keep the lies to yourself.”

Before she can really disrespect his intelligence, Barry and Jason touch gloves, and speed meets ferocity. Barry doesn’t hit as hard, but each of his jabs lands somewhere on Jason’s body. Jason lands less punches, but the ones that hit send out waves of impact over Barry’s thin body.

Jason punches into Barry’s gut and brings him to the ground, and Barry pulls Jason in range with his frankly shredded legs.

“Those legs.” Thea of all people is the one admiring them.

Barry kicks into Jason’s chest rapidly, making him bend over in agony, with his head down, Barry kicks into it. Jason reels back, and Barry jumps to his feet. The bell sounds, and both fighters look disappointed by the interruption.

Barry’s dad and adoptive father are saying encouraging things in his corner. Bruce Wayne is yelling supportive things to Jason from the crowd, because, she now notices, Jason has no coach.

The second round starts with more oomph. Jason stomps on the ground and sets himself into something like a batter’s stance. Barry approaches cautiously, and Jason flips him over his back. Barry kicks out as he falls and manages to catch Jason in the back with a brutal kick.

Barry rolls up to his feet, dodges a punch from Jason, and answers it with a jaw busting one of his own. Jason drops to the ground.

The ref barely bothers officiating it, all of them know he’s done.

Felicity is up first to cheer “HELL YEAH BARRY!”

Then the crowd follows suit, she spots Oliver sitting a few rows back, a huge smile on his face. When they make eye contact, he puts a finger to his lips, and she nods.

They go through the needed after fight interview, but she can’t wait to see Kara. That is, see her fight.

“ _Just friends_.” She whispers to herself.

Kate comes out first, an aggressive rap song that sounds similar to the one Kara plays at times. Her mind makes the connection, that Kate is probably the one that introduced her to it.

When Kara comes out, it seems she prepared for this, playing an upbeat song instead of her usual, and shadowboxing the whole way down to the octagon.

Lena desperately tries to make eye contact with her, needing to show that she’s still there for her. Kara searches for her, and relaxes her posture when they meet each others eye. 

“Go Kara!”

Kara smiles at this, and the uncharacteristic line of worry on her face seems to smooth.

Guilt bounces around her alcohol filled head, _knowing_ she caused that worry. But, should she feel guilty for trying to keep their previously established boundaries? Maybe. When she’s made things so confusing herself by having them stay with each other so much. How many ‘flings’ go on this long? Literally only her relationship with Jack went on longer than this. Which is honestly sad, some nearly got to-

Kara and Kate are touching gloves. Kate throws a barrage of kicks that Kara blocks with a tense face, ducking a high kick that seems to be an ending to the combination.

Kara grins, as if to ask if that’s it, and responds with a punch that lands right above Kate’s waist. Following that with a knee to the head, and then with a kick to the leg that Lena _swears_ makes a crunching noise.

With her unmangled leg, Kate kicks out in answer, catching Kara in the chest. Lena feels her chest tighten as Kara takes another kick to the side, that’s followed up by yet another kick in almost the exact same spot.

“Cover up!” _Lena_ yells.

She’s now become someone who yells at matches, this is getting ridiculous. 

The two women look like they’re switching between a boxing and kickboxing match every couple of times they hit each other. This might be the toughest competition that Kara’s had thus far. Weaving her way out of and into a number of strikes. Kara isn’t letting it go without a fight, punching into Kate’s sides and making sure each hit is answered.

The round ends, and Lena is happy she isn’t a judge, because fans on both sides will be annoyed with whoever gets more points.

She basically runs to the washroom, and when she’s back, the second round is already under way, Kara and Kate on the ground in a fight for dominance that isn’t anywhere near as hot as she would have hoped. Lena finds her seat and leans in to see Kara holding Kate’s arm at a painful angle, not letting up even while Kate uses her free arm to elbow the hell out of Kara for daring to hold her.

Kate contorts herself enough that she gets out of the hold. Kara stops her leg from kicking out, knowing as well as anyone that Kate could put a kangaroo to shame. Then, _again_ , Kara pulls on the leg, bicep flexed against straining calf. Kara is kneeing into Kate’s chest, and Kate is answering with a concentrated flailing that’s combined with fists landing wherever they can on Kara’s body.

The round ends with them both looking worse for wear. Kate has a small cut above her eye that just makes her look cooler than usual, and Kara has swelling on her cheek from a few choice punches.

J’onn holds Kara’s shoulders. He’s telling her to keep her head here, not in the past, not on the future.

She wonders if J’onn knows their past, if Kara told him.

Round Three starts, and she can see Kara has found her focus again.

She swings for Kate’s head like she’s trying to punch through her, and every one that lands looks fatal. Kate smiles up at her with a bloodied face, and Kara kicks her leg with a vengeance. Kate topples, and Kara follow her down, viciously striking past Kate’s defending arms and right to her head.

Kate’s head falls back to the mat, and consciousness clearly leaves her body. Kara has her in a mounted position of dominance still. The crowd cheers her victory, and Kara still holds the position, ready to finish the already finished fight. It takes J’onn pulling her off for her to finally get up.

Barney is there, a huge and sincere smile plastered on his face. “Kara Danvers, you are now the third ranked woman in the DEO. Your meteoric rise is certainly nothing to scoff at, and I’m just as shocked and humbled as the rest of the audience.”

Kara smiles through her injuries, egged on by chants of _girl of steel_ “Lots of words without saying anything. Taking notes from Lex?”

“Then let me get to it. You’ve been undefeated for an unreal number of matches. If this streak continues, you’ll have an equal amount of wins in a row to Sam Arias.”

“I’m going to focus on Sara Lance first. Fighting me will be her last match, and I know she won’t go down easy.”

He claps her back in a robotic looking gesture “I’ll see you in Star City then.”

She winks “Yes you will.”

Lex laughs “I see the appeal.”

Words of protest die on her lips.

Lena says lackluster goodbyes to her friends, politely refusing to go out for drinks after.

Lucy doesn’t have the look of knowing on her face, just something sad “Going after her?”

Lena nods, knowing better than to trust her words right now.

The hotel is embarrassing now. She had a full-on tantrum in this place, for reasons beyond her own understanding. In a juvenile attempt to avoid responsibility, she takes the stairs.

Her phone rings while she’s halfway up.

“Kara?” She tries to catch her breath “I was hoping you’d call.”

Alex is in the background, sounding garbled by the phone “Who are you talking to?”

Kara is crying, not even bothering to try and hide it “Kate talked to me after the fight. She wants to get back together with me, and I told her no, because,” Kara sounds watery “I don’t want to lose this.”

Lena feels the now familiar mix of emotions that she doesn’t want or know how to handle “There’s no ‘this’ Kara, we’re just having sex.”

“Right.” The word is said with gravity. “I’ll be going then.”

Lena’s brain screams to stop her, to talk about what this all means. She lets Kara hang up.

She steps out of the stairwell, and enters her pathetic room. The one she had to be switched into because of her own lack of emotional control,

Her room has never felt so empty. With that uncomforting thought, she falls into an unfulfilling sleep.

..

In the morning she knocks on Kara’s door. They need to finish this conversation in some way.

When Kara opens the door, she pulls Lena in and kisses her passionately. The whole thing is tainted by a permeating sense of desperation.

_why can’t you be a guy?_

Lena pushes her to the bed and starts to unbuckle her pants, but she’s not getting any feedback from Kara.

Looking up shows her why, Kara is crying. The last time Kara cried was, well the last time they talked. Lena worms her face up to Kara’s face while Kara does a horrible job at hiding from her gaze.

Lena tilts her face so they’re eye to eye “What’s wrong?”

Kara meets her gaze for only a moment before bursting into a fresh set of tears “For fucks sake Lena.”

She’s never heard Kara swear.

“I, I’m in love with you. And I was stupid enough to think you loved me back.”

This, isn’t what she expected. She springs back from her, stands up and can’t decide whether to look at Kara. She can already see the end of nights like this, the end of the best sex she’s ever had, all of those beautiful moments going up in flames with her pictures.

“I’m sorry Kara. You’re right, I don’t feel the same way.” Lena puts her coat on in silence, trying to avoid the tear-filled gaze she can feel on her. As she opens the door, she can’t help but look back. She immediately regrets it, seeing a strong woman reduced to a sobbing mess “I’m sorry.”

Her words do nothing to comfort the crying figure she’s made on the bed.

She closes the door behind her and slams her head into it.

_Why did I let it go so far?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're near the end now folks, it's been quite a ride.

Unpacked, back in the room. _Her_ room. Not just some room, a place that should still feel like home.

..

Calling in sick to work is strange, especially when she’s not _really_ sick.

She’s wearing Kara’s sweater again. The familiar warmth, the still lingering smell of her place. It’s comfortable. No real symptoms stopping her from detaching herself from the couch, she wanders to the dark room. The Kara photo album stares at her, telling her it’s well past time to burn. She ignores it, instead looking at the new album she’s making, one that has pictures she thinks will fit into her gallery idea.

_A Woman For All Seasons_

Nature focused, a few portraits here and there. She’s seriously considering putting the photo that Kara took of her jumping into a snowbank as the introduction picture. But Kara won’t return her texts, or her calls. Which is deserved for how badly she ended things, leaving that crying mess in the hotel room after telling herself again and again how much she needed Kara to stay in her life.

_Christ_

Her friends are doing an admirable job of keeping her busy. But every other moment feels… stale. Not filling the needs she has, and not just the sexual ones. Her hand and a mind that won’t stop going back to the star fighter seem to be doing the trick just fine in that regard.

..

The person running the museum is excited to have her work featured there, and even this moment, one that she’s wrestled with and been pushed toward for years, seems less like a milestone.

She decides then to credit Kara, and put her on the guest list, if only to have an excuse to see her.

Her phone record is pathetic.

**_Lena:_ ** **Can we talk?**

**_Kara Danvers:_ ** **There’s not much to say right now. Please just give me some space, hearing from you makes it hurt all over again**

**_Lena:_ ** **Okay**

A week passed before she broke.

**_Lena:_ ** **I miss us being friends**

Then honesty.

**_Lena:_ ** **I miss you**

**_Lena:_ ** **I miss seeing you**

**_Lena:_ ** **Can you just talk to me? I know I handled things terribly**

**_Lena:_ ** **I still want you in my life, is there any way we could do that?**

Then desperation.

**_Lena:_ ** **Do you still want me to get rid of the pictures?**

But even that doesn’t work. The obvious bait does _nothing._

**_Lena:_ ** **I’m doing a gallery and want to use the picture you took of me jumping in the snow. Are you okay with that?**

**_Lena:_ ** **Pretty exciting that I’m doing a gallery**

**_Lena:_ ** **You really helped convince me and I suppose I wanted to say thanks**

Knowing she should really take the hint at this point, she types out her next message anyways.

**_Lena:_ ** **I’m putting you on the list as a guest of honour**

Right after she hits send, her phone glows with an incoming call. Excitement turns to disappointment when she sees that it’s Felicity.

“Hi.”

Felicity laughs “Don’t sound so happy.”

“You know that I’m sick.”

“If that’s what we’ve decided to call it, sure. Was just wondering what the date is for the gallery opening so I can book work off.”

“Three days from now.”

“Alright Lena. Talk to me if you want, but please talk to somebody.”

“Thanks.” She hangs up, knowing she’s being an ass. All of her friends taking turns being concerned is wearing her thin enough without them assuming that she’s talking to one and not the others.

She leaves the dark room and finds herself back on the couch. Her hands are down her sweatpants, a voice is saying soothing things in her ear, commanding her and making her go slower. In her minds eye, there’s a toned woman, blonde hair and blue-

“Fuck.”

Where Kara has been having no difficulty with keeping distance from Lena, Lena can’t seem to manage it at all. Some of the shots are even obscured ones of Kara, where only her friends will know who it is. And Kara, if she decides to acknowledge Lena’s existence.

Needing someone in the way she does right now, it’s not completely foreign, but being the one who caused the drift? That’s more than heartbreaking.

Not that she would be heartbroken over losing a friend. Just…

She calls Lucy “Please give me something to do.”

“Dinner?”

“It’s only,” _oh wow_ “Yeah. In an hour or so at Dallas Dive?”

Lucy barks out a laugh “That kind of dinner. Alright, I’m in.”

..

Dressed to the nines and looking good, she hesitates for a moment. Kara’s glasses that she can’t manage to get rid of, along with the photo album, and the shirt.

“Fuck it.”

She grabs the glasses and puts them on. Time to see if the disguise thing can work. On the drive over, she realizes that her time with Kara had her barely using the drivers on staff. After playing with the glasses that make her smile at just how _Kara_ they look, she lowers the partition, getting the driver’s attention.

“Hey Frank. Been a while.”

He smiles in the mirror. “That it has. Any reason why?”

“Honestly? Was seeing someone and we were both paranoid about media stuff.”

“Was?” He hazards.

“Things ended.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She slumps back into her seat “Me too.”

..

Dallas Dive is as grimy and bumping as usual, bikers and college kids elbow to elbow. There’s a country song that has the upbeat energy that keeps the bikers happy, and the college kids unbothered. Lucy flags her down at their old corner spot. She dodges through the crowd and sighs in relief seeing that shots are already there.

Lucy hugs her, and Lena immediately goes for a shot.

“Damn, you really needed this.”

Lena takes another shot “You have no idea.”

The night carries them with idle chatter, then March plans come up.

“Felicity’s like usual right?”

“How would I know?”

“I assume she already invited you.”

Lucy cocks her head “Ohhhh, I didn’t even realize what she said was an invitation. What the hell are you celebrating in March?”

Lena ignores her “I’d love to see you there.”

“Consider it done.”

A few more shots in, and she’s fighting back tears.

“Oh. Shit, Lena, are you okay?”

“I don’t know. No? I just,” She wipes at the tears that are starting to fall “I miss having her in my life. Even just as a friend.”

Lucy sighs “Would you be this sad over a friend?”

Lena looks at a table filled with college kids, their laughter giving her a small escape from the weighty conversation. “If it was you. I think I would be.”

“That’s very flattering, but I think we both know that you wouldn’t be _this_ type of broken up over it.”

Lena flags down their waitress “I wanted a distraction. Not a therapy session.”

Lucy shrugs her shoulders “Okay.”

They spend the rest of the night on aimless talk, and for a few minutes at a time, her mind isn’t occupied by thoughts of Kara.

A hunk of a man is at the bar chatting to the bartender and nursing a beer. Maybe something to keep herself occupied.

“Hey Lucy, if I don’t come back to the table it’s because I’m taking that guy home.”

“Get em cowgirl.”

Lena gives her a confused look and stalks over to her target. She sits next to him, and he turns to her with a half smile.

“Hi there.”

Lena smiles back “I don’t usually do this-“

“I’m no stranger to rebound sex. Name is Grant.” He extends a hand for her to shake.

“Lena.”

“So, Lena, want to skip out on all of the small talk and just get to it?”

This man is speaking her language “Okay. Come home with me.”

He slaps a twenty to the corner and Lena calls her driver. In the ride over she feels like she should be clawing at his clothes. But she doesn’t have an urge to, making the trip feel like prom night with her dad driving, no touching the date, tense eye contact, and not a lot of fun.

They get to her place, up the elevator, the same elevator where she would be resisting ripping off Kara’s clothes at this point. The guy, Grant, he’s hot. Any other day and she knows they would be making magic already. But now, on this day, she feels nothing except longing for what she used to have.

She steps into her room, and Grant follows.

Then she surprises herself, and starts crying.

Grant stutters in his movement. “Should I go?”

She shakes her head and goes to the living room. Grant sits on the couch with her, clearly out of his depth.

“Alright, so I’m sleazy, but not _that_ sleazy. Do you want to talk about whoever you’re failing to get over?”

She mulls it over, he makes sense for this conversation, no chance of seeing him again. “I had a friends with benefits thing going on with this girl, and she fell in love with me, so I ended things.”

“Have you never watched a movie? Those things never work out.” He smiles, sees the humour isn’t working on her, and inhales deeply “Okay. Well, you miss her I’d guess. Because now you’ve lost the friends and the benefits, so you’re trying to get over her, even though in your opinion there should be nothing to _get_ over.”

“Wow. Yeah, you nailed it. Are you a therapist or something?”

He nods “Or something. Drug addiction counsellor.”

Another thing that should get her blood pumping, but does nothing “What’s the advice then?”

“Assess your feelings some more. You clearly care about this girl on a deep level, and losing her in any capacity is taking a huge toll on you. It could be that you’re denying something about yourself, or your relationship, that’s keeping you from looking at this properly.”

“Well,” She sinks back into the couch “I don’t have romantic feelings for women, just, you know, _physical_.”

“I’m not in a clinical setting, so I can say that the way you said that was hot. Back to the point though, why do you think she developed feelings for you then?”

A great question, and one she’s asked herself a fair few times. “We spent a lot of time together. She lived across the hall from me for weeks, and I’ve stayed a lot of times at her place.” She looks to the ceiling, ashamed to admit this part “And we went out to dinner… a lot. I feel like I definitely sent mixed signals.”

“Maybe some of those mixed signals were recieved from your end too.”

She moves her head in question.

“I think, even if you really don’t date girls, and that’s okay, that you got some feelings invested too.”

“How does that even work?”

“Time. If you spent that much time with her, part of your brain was starting to look at her as a romantic partner. Dinner dates, all that stuff, it just lends itself to romantic feelings, whether you want it to or not.”

“So, her wanting space means she’s the smarter of the two of us?”

He shakes his head like she’s gotten a math question wrong “I think this is a whole conversation that you should be having with her. Because you’re confused, she has feelings, and you’re crying about it.”

“To strangers.” She mutters “Thank you, but I can’t even get her to pick up her phone.”

“You know where she lives, right? If you ever work up the courage, just drive to her place.” He stands “And that’s the end of your free therapy.”

She watches him as he goes “Want me to call you am Uber back to the bar?”

“Please.” He steps out, and she hears some of his retreating steps before the door shuts.

She blows air into her hair, only serving to put more of it in her face. “Just drive to her place. Huh.”

..

She decides to pin her hair into place in something reminiscent to a sexy librarian, wanting to look nice for the gallery. She looks at the glasses that she wears way too often to not seem obsessive, and puts them on, figuring if she’s going for librarian, might as well _really_ go for it. And when Kara shows up, she can give them back to her, show that she still cares.

Felicity’s always excited voice is muffled beyond her washroom door. “Come on Lena, can’t be late to your own gallery.”

She smiles in the mirror, satisfied with her appearance, and opens the door. Lucy, Felicity, and Thea are there, along with Lex, who looks like he’s trying his best not to make any snide comments.

“Lex, I seriously love that you’re going without the toupee.”

He rolls his eyes “Wouldn’t want to upstage you on your big day.”

..

She stares up at the gallery title, happy with her little joke. There’s a sizeable crowd, and they seem very positive about her work. A curator asks her about potentially putting some of these in their art museum, and she thinks for that moment that dying of happiness is a possibility.

A few people ask pointed questions about who the mystery woman is, and she wants that mystery woman to be there, to say that she’s the subject and inspiration for so many of these shots.

“Kara took that? Never would have guessed.”

It’s Alex. Kara’s sister is there with her… _wife?_ Or are they still just engaged? They turn and she smiles. “I’m so glad you guys came.”

Kelly looks to the picture of Lena jumping into snow “Never thought Kara Danvers had an eye for photography.”

“Yeah.” Lena stares with admiration “She’s just full of surprises. Is she here yet? I have her as guest of honour, which really just means she gets some framed pictures, but still.”

Alex frowns “She’s not coming. I don’t know what happened between you two in Gotham, but she just outright said no to coming.”

“Oh.” Lena can feel tears pricking at the corner of her eyes “Like, without a doubt?”

Alex puts a hand to her shoulder in a soothing gesture “I’m sorry. Whatever happened I’m sure you two can work it out. You just need to talk with her about it.”

_I’m trying_ She thinks to say “Okay. Well tell her that I wish she could have made it.” She tries not to let the sadness spill into her voice too much.

Alex takes her hand off of Lena’s shoulder and then gives her a quizzical look “Are you, are you wearing her glasses?”

Lena can feel her face running hot “Uh… Yes. She left them in my hotel room last time we were… hanging out, and I’ve taken to wearing them sometimes.”

Alex looks like she’s piecing it together, so Lena retreats with a wave and snatches a glass of champagne from a table. A few more of her own complimentary champagne, and another round of questions about who the mystery model is, and she finds herself in the washroom. Then, without any logical thought, she’s calling Kara.

_Pick up pick up pick up_

It goes to voicemail “Kara here, if we’re friends, leave a message. If we’re not, how did you get this number?”

Lena lets out a watery laugh that could easily turn to more tears if she let it “Hey Kara. It’s Lena again. I just. I wanted to say again that I miss you, and I’m really sad that you couldn’t be at my first gallery opening. I uh, I had some pictures framed for you. And,” Oh god, she can feel herself about to start blubbering “I wish you were here. I wish that we could be friends, talk again, be like how we used to be. Dinner and aquariums and staying over. I miss it all, I miss _you_ so god damn much.”

She ends the message before it gets too pathetic.

The gallery for all intents and purposes, is a rousing success. But it doesn’t feel like it. Not without the star of the pictures there. Her speech about how one woman was the final push to actually doing this thing that her friends had been hounding her for years about has to be scrapped for obvious reasons. Instead, she just says that her friends wore her down, getting her a few polite laughs, but not the laugh she craves to hear.

..

Felicity stops her before she leaves “Hey, where are you going?”

“I’m sorry, I just feel like shit lately and I don’t know why.”

“You’re going through heartbreak Lena.”

“I ended things.”

“Okay.” Felicity just sounds sorry for her.

..

She’s waiting in line at a Starbucks, needing something ridiculously caffeinated to get her through a difficult work night that’s proving to be more common. She blankly looks at the line, and thinks she sees-

_Kara?_

The blonde woman turns to link hands with a child. Lena frowns, it isn’t Kara. The disappointment she feels at it _not_ being Kara is almost enough to bring her to tears. Some start to fall, and it hits her then, with full force.

_Fuck_

She was in love with her. She’s _still_ in love with her. It’s the stupidest time to realize it, inconvenient, and way too late. She gets out of line and hops into her car, speeding to Kara’s.

_I, I’m in love with you. And I was stupid enough to think you loved me back_

You weren’t the stupid one.

_Would you be this sad over a friend?_

_If you ever work up the courage, just drive to her place_

_You’re going through heartbreak Lena_

She’s been so deliberately blind to reality.

..

She’s idling outside of Kara’s house, not knowing whether to try and call first. The other call wasn’t appreciated, and she feels this one wouldn’t be either.

Then she sees someone with short hair walking out of Kara’s front door.

It’s Kate Kane. She gets into her car and drives past Lena, thankfully not taking note of her. She’s frozen by her questions, realizing that she truly may have waited too long to realize her feelings, that she may have lost out on Kara.

The stubborn side of her wants to try anyways, spill out her feelings and hope for the best. She remains frozen.

Then she sees Kara’s blinds open, and her face peek out. Lena watches as she comes out and approaches her car, and she just stares with wide eyes.

Kara has a blanket around her shoulders, and her eyes are rimmed with tears. She looks at Lena with a tired smile “I thought you might be a stalker at first.”

Lena tries for a laugh “At this rate, I might as well be.”

“You should probably turn off your car, the gas can build up and kill you.”

This car is electric, but the concern makes her find some words. It’s quiet now, the breeze in the air like punctuation to all the unsaid words. “You and Kate then?” Jealousy isn’t how she planned to start this.

Kara sighs, understandably “You came all this way to act possessive over the girl you rejected?”

_Not intentionally_

“No. I came here to talk.” Lena turns the car off and gets out. “About us. I was so stupid, and I want to try and explain why.”

Kara looks torn between a yes and a no.

“Kara I was in love with you, _am_ , in love with you. I’m sorry I was too fucking dumb to see it.”

“We can talk inside.” Kara leads her, then waits for Lena to start.

She’s so shocked that she’s actually talking to Kara, that this woman is so goddamn forgiving that she’s willing to let Lena into her home again. “I suppose I should start by saying that… these are reasons, not excuses. I misled you, because I was fighting with myself over _it_. And it, _it_ , starts with my mom. She didn’t want me, told me I was adopted for a long time, but really, I was just the result of my father’s affair. And no matter what I did, or who I was, I was never enough.”

Kara goes into the living room, and sits on the couch that holds so many good memories for her.

Lena gives her ample space when she sits next to her. “I, she didn’t take me being bisexual very great.” Lena stares at the wall, not wanting to see those blue eyes give her sympathy after the pain she’s caused “She, well she did the classic thing where she said it was a phase and that I’d settle down with a nice boy. And she, well she still says that, to this very fucking day.” She peeks at Kara, the look of kindness meaningful beyond measure after so long without it. “I fucked up so bad with us Kara.”

Kara grabs her hand and squeezes tight “Finish what you were saying.”

“Me and Jack were amazing, but we were patching things up.” She squeezes Kara’s hand hard for this part “I think for my mom’s sake, just to have a man in my life, any man. And that’s the worst part. Patching things up really just meant ignoring that we didn’t work long term. There was a time that I thought we would work long term, I really loved him. Just, we didn’t _quite_ fit. Everything was there, physically, emotionally, but we were just too similar.”

Kara hugs her tightly, like with enough force she can fill in the cracks that years of self flagellation have brought. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No, it’s not.” She sobs into Kara’s blanketed arm “I shouldn’t be able to treat you like shit, make you fall in love with me and then walk out when you finally give in. That’s not okay.”

Then she’s staring at Lena “Not everything will be fixed in a night, but time is the great healer, you know?”

“I love you so much. I’m sorry it took me so long to admit it.”

“Hey,” Kara plays with her hair “I still love you too, almost a year versus a month would be a quick turnaround.”

“It-“ Lena chokes back a sob for a surprised laugh “It really was almost a year.”

“You can sleep here.” Kara stands and yawns “We’ll talk more in the morning. But you have to sleep in my childhood bedroom. I’m not ready for you to be in my bed again yet.”

_Yet_

“Okay. Goodnight Kara, I love you.” The declarations of love are spilling out a lot, like she’s making up for lost time without intending to.

Kara grins at Lena from halfway up the stairs “I love you too. Now go to bed.”

She lies on the bed that just barely fits her, staring up at the ceiling and hugging her blankets. Holding on to those words: _yet_.

Somehow, she hasn’t ruined it, she can get Kara back in her life.

..

She wakes to the smell of cooking food, and she lays in bed for a few moments, happy to have this back in her life. To have Kara back in even a small way. She putters to the kitchen and smiles at the sight she’d missed so much, Kara with a concentrated face flipping a piece of French toast with more flair than necessary.

“Morning.” Lena doesn’t know if Kara is ready for domestic things, so she resists the urge to hug her, and sits at the table instead.

Kara turns with a smile “We had French toast when this whole thing started, so I thought-“

“That’s so fucking cute.”

Kara piles the French toast onto two plates and sits next to Lena, hesitantly knocking their legs together. “I’m sorry I didn’t go to the gallery.”

Lena freezes her fork to mouth journey “Honestly, I think it was probably the right call. When you didn’t show up, I started to piece together how far in denial I was.”

After letting Lena eat some more, Kara nudges her leg again “So, your mom is really that bad about being bi?”

“Awful. And I guess wanting to keep her happy made me ignore the part of me that did think of woman romantically, because I knew I could never bring a girl home and have her love me. But then I thought about how good we were together, and I realized that I shouldn’t care what some bigot thinks of me, that I shouldn’t throw away the best relationship I’ve had since Jack just to make some old hag happy.”

Kara chews with determination, like she needs to get her words out quickly “That’s awful. I’m really sorry you were raised in an environment where someone tried to restrict your love.”

Lena blinks back some tears “Thank you. Thank you for being yourself, and being so good to me.”

Kara takes her hand in an oh so soft gesture “Always.”

..

The dishes packed away, and Lena looking more presentable, they sit in the kitchen, tension thick.

“Hike?” Kara asks.

Lena doesn’t have the footwear for it, but she’s not going to say no to the olive branch, so she agrees.

“Kind of the reverse order.” Lena realizes aloud.

Kara laughs as she moves a branch out of their path “Guess we should establish rules next if we’re doing a remix.”

They probably should. “We uh, we might be smart to do that.”

Kara warns her of some roots “Well I don’t mind keeping things on the low key, but I don’t to go out in disguise anymore if we’re dating.”

“That’s fair. I also still have your glasses anyways.”

“I was wondering where those ended up.”

Lena almost bumps into a stopped Kara.

“Alex was right then.”

“Oh no.”

Kara whips around to her with a grin “You lovesick idiot, you were wearing my glasses at the gallery.”

Lena sighs “Yes. I actually wore them a lot. And I couldn’t admit to myself why.”

Kara cups her cheek “That’s equally adorable and sad.”

“Trust me,” Lena leans into Kara’s hand, having missed her support so much. “I know.”

..

The pair continue on the hiking path in silence, until Lena has an idea.

“Okay, we act normal, you know like as a couple, then deny it when the press asks.”

Kara makes a noise of approval “Sounds good to me. You ready to formally meet my family?”

“No, but I will anyways.”

“You’re sweet.”

Lena holds her back from moving “I have a lot to make up for.”

“Lena, I won’t act like everything is okay now. But I also don’t want you beating yourself up about it.”

In the quiet of nature she can see a future where she doesn’t hate her herself for what she did, for who she is, can see a future with Kara where she’s happy, honest with herself. “I’ll try.”

Kara kisses her cheek, and Lena is so starved for her touch that she might die right there. She holds Lena’s face with her hands “You alright there?”

“I. That, that kind of turned me on.”

Kara’s face has the shock that Lena is feeling “You’re serious.”

“Deadly.”

“Well,” Kara looks ahead “Let’s, uh, just walk some more.”

Disappointed but understanding, Lena doesn’t protest and follows her lead. This path isn’t like the one she remembers, it’s more wild, a lot of ducking and moving things to get anywhere. Kara seems to know where’s she’s going, and Lena worries that this is going to be some sacred place that she went to with Mon-El.

“Where are you taking me?”

Kara tuts at a thick layer of leaves “I swear this wasn’t as bad a few days ago.” She turns back “I’m not planning your elaborate murder, but let me surprise you, I’ve been working on it while we’ve been apart.”

The foliage breaks to show a treehouse that looks like something out of a storybook. Now she understands how the radio silence was easier for Kara, she was actually keeping busy. “It looks amazing. Is it safe?”

Kara puts her hands to her hips “The audacity of that question. I slept out here when my bed started…”

She trails off, but Lena has a feeling that this is her fault too “Hey,” She takes Kara’s hand “I seriously considered sleeping on my couch.”

Kara touches their heads together “That’s so sad that it’s cute.” She nods to the treehouse “Will you come up with me?”

She looks at the structure hanging in the tree, placed wood clashing with that of the tree in a way that makes it look completely unnatural “Seriously though, is it safe?”

“I’m going to ignore that second insult.” Kara takes her hand, linking their fingers in a way that she hadn’t realized until now just how much she loved.

There’s a lot of love for Kara she’s only fully realizing now, and she feels like a few days here will help her figure it out. “Hey.” She stops them “Can I stay here for a few days while we figure everything out?”

“Is it a condition of you coming up in the treehouse?”

Not so emotional that she can’t take a joke, Lena makes a face of consideration “One treehouse visit for three days of Lena and Kara time.”

“Four days,” She puts her hand out “And you have a deal.”

Lena ignores the handshake and holds her tight, holds her tight for the pain she wants to soothe away, for the way that she found someone so caring, so accommodating to her internalized hatred. “How did I get so lucky with you?”

Kara kisses her head over and over, pressing into her with delicate lips that only hurt in their absence “I feel like the universe had to cut us some slack.”

Lena looks past her to the treehouse “It really is safe though, right?”

“I have literally slept in there.” Kara starts to climb the holds in the tree and steps in, disappearing into the thing she created out of heartbreak.

With a firm grasp of how weird this is, Lena climbs too.

The inside is pretty barren, a few books and a bedroll, with a healthy dose of sunlight. Lena looks up and almost smacks her head into a pane of plastic that shows the sky in all of its blue glory, barely obscured by the tree branches hanging and trying to break through.

Wordlessly, they curl up on the bedroll and watch clouds pass. Kara’s heart is a steady drum in Lena’s ear, finally giving her that comfort, that _security_ she’d denied herself.

“Your parents,” Lena finally starts, an unknowable amount of time having passed “They were cool about your sexuality?”

Kara wiggles a bit in her spot, and Lena realizes she’s looking at her now “I assume the Zor-El’s would have been. I didn’t even really know myself at that point. The Danvers, well you know Alex is a lesbian, they were great. Even my dad was good about it before he screwed off to do whatever it is he does.”

“Lex was good about it. As good as he could be with our lives the way they were.” She thinks back to the turmoil of just getting out of there, trying to survive her insanity. “He was a good guy for a long time, he still is sometimes. I really think he lost some of his luster for life because he had to take care of us both, provide for our financials while trying to keep her from ruining me like she did to him.”

“How long was your mom… sick?”

“You remember the alien thing?” Lena laughs despite the weight of the subject “Of course you did, hard to forget when someone says that.” How to start this conversation? “She was never the picture of mental health, but my dad really kept her in line, made her get help, helped her himself a fair amount. When he died, she inherited his wealth and spent it all on alien defence, funding anything but NASA, which would have at least been helpful to society. Pissed away the money in five years, leading Lex down some, well let’s just say that he doesn’t do anything illegal anymore.” The only other person she’s shared this with was Jack, she remembers holding him tight, crying through the night. “He righted the ship and got her into a home. Got me some therapy that helped a lot, but didn’t fix everything obviously. Like they say though, you have to want help, and on this note, I didn’t want any.”

Looking into Kara’s deep and sympathetic eyes, she knows that she does now, she wants to get better, she wants to move on from the trauma her mother inflicted on her with her bigotry.

“I think I should see a therapist.”

Kara strokes her cheek “If you think that will help, I one hundred percent support it.”

With Kara cradling her and rubbing a soft circle into her back, she falls asleep.

Panic sets in for only a brief moment, then her blurred eyes see the soft rising chest of Kara, and it goes away. A darkening sky is staring down at them as they stare up at it, she wonders if it admires them as much as they admire it.

“I wish I had my camera.”

Kara blows air on her in an affectionate gesture “Some moments can be just for us.”

“Do you think I hide behind my camera?”

Kara looks at her, then at the purpling sky “You might. The results are amazing though.” Kara pauses, like she’s considering something “Can we make this five days? I want to head into the city and see the pictures they selected for the museum.”

Lena squeezes Kara’s arm with barely contained glee “You kept track of all that?”

Kara lets out a sad sounding laugh “I wanted to go so badly that I seriously considered slashing my own tires. I’m so proud of you for finally letting the world see your art.”

Not having the words for how much that means to hear from _her_ , she instead holds to Kara like a life line “Can we wait for the stars to come out?”

The purple sky slowly turns dark, unfurling the sheen of darkness to show a cluster of galaxies. A brief and unfiltered view into the heavens above, swirling cosmos that, while she hates to admit it, her camera would struggle to capture.

“I,” Kara stops, probably hearing how impossibly loud her voice sounds in the quiet “I used to have dreams all the time that my parents were up there somewhere, instead of in the ground down here. Made things easier to deal with I guess.”

It doesn’t feel like they’re trading tragedy as these moments often feel. It just feels like she’s opening her heart more to someone who has it. “When did you know that you loved me?”

Kara hums next to her “No specific moment, but I knew casual was done for right around the Laurel fight.”

Thinking back, it makes sense “For me it was on the train ride over. You were just… unceasingly kind to me. Like I mattered even when I wasn’t being my best. And, and I loved you for it.”

“When you almost said babe?” Kara asks with a knowing smile.

Lena still has it in her to feel embarrassed, muttering about ‘super hearing’.

There’s no movie moment where a shooting star glitters past, but this, this is good enough for her.

..

Howling winds wake her up.

Kara blinks away her tiredness and leads them down to the ground. With a sure step, and Lena’s now blind faith, they make it back to her house in one piece. Lena moves to go to the guest room, but Kara stops her.

“I’m not ready for… you know.”

“Sex?” Lena can’t help but smile, it seems the swearing was a once in a lifetime thing.

“You can sleep in my bed though.”

“Can I kiss you?” Lena feels like she’s on a prom date, making sure her date is-

Kara kisses her, yanks her hair back in a movement that’s strong as much as it’s loving. Their mouths meet, tongues exploring like it’s new again, like they’ve never gone through this dance before. Kara separates them with one last pull on Lena’s top lip. Kara scoops her up and bridal carries her to the bedroom, making Lena push her knees together in a last ditch effort to stop herself from begging for more.

She lets out a pathetic squeak when Kara drops her on the bed. “I can’t go straight to bed, I need to brush my teeth and stuff.”

Kara makes a face “I might have a manual one in a drawer somewhere.” She goes into the washroom and digs around before producing something with unicorns on it “Before you start, it’s from the dentist, and I felt weird not taking anything.”

Lena rolls off the bed in a way that probably looks as undignified as it feels, and snatches it from her hand “Only you.”

Washing their faces, brushing their teeth, it all feels so domestic. So much like a relationship.

“Hey,” Lena waits for Kara to spit her mouthwash, and meets her eyes in the mirror “Could I take you out on a date tomorrow? Somewhere nice in the city?”

“Okay. We should grab some of your stuff if you’re staying here for a few days.”

The ‘yes’ was so casual. So devoid of any of the hesitation she’d been prepping for and dreading. “Awesome. I’ll uh, make that reservation.”

Kara bumps her shoulder “I know you didn’t expect me to say yes. Don’t pull too many strings.”

“No promises.”

..

She knows pulling up to it that she went overboard. ‘The Chosen’ lives up to its name, being ridiculously lavish and hard to get into. Even with Lena’s pull, they could only give her an eight-o clock dinner.

When they get out, Kara is in open mouthed shock “Lena.”

“Yes babe?”

“Don’t use adorable pet names to distract from the fact that this place definitely has hundred-dollar bottles of wine.”

The highest are in the thousands, but she doesn’t need to know that “They have food here that might make J’onn cry.”

Kara has the front door half open already “You know me so well.”

The inside is adorned with beautiful light, soft music, and an air of just subdued snootiness, making it on the right side of upscale.

Kara on the other hand, takes her seat like she’s worried anything she touches she may have to pay for. “Is this going to be a regular thing when we date?”

Lena takes her own seat with a smile “We’ll each get to pick a place back and forth.”

“Deal.”

The menu is a breeze to Lena, she orders a celery root and black truffle remoulade with gold flake, which Kara literally turns her nose up at. Kara is having a hard time picking, hemming and hawing at the limited but confusing menu.

“Poularde?” Kara looks up in confusion “That’s like French for chicken, right?”

“ _Poulet_. Is the French word for chicken, this means _fattened_ chicken.” She bops Kara’s chin “Poularde is a chicken that’s four months old, and tastes amazing.”

“I guess that then. I do feel weird about eating a baby chicken.”

“I’ve seen you eat ponds worth of fish.”

Kara shrugs “You got me.”

Lena orders for them, adding a pinot noir for them to split.

“Please don’t get anything too expensive.”

Lena takes a poured glass and swirls it around like the fancy woman she was groomed to be “If you’re going to be my girlfriend.” She mirrors Kara’s smile at the last word “You’re going to get spoiled.”

She pouts “I’m taking us to a McDonalds next time.”

Lena nearly spit takes in reaction.

Conversation stays light for a while, a few jabs here and there about the difference in income between the two of them.

“So.” Kara stretches the _o_ “Are you ready to meet my mom?”

Lena quells the panic “Depends on when.”

Kara checks her phone “Next weekend?”

“Won’t you be back to training for the Sara Lance fight?”

“I can still go out to dinner with my mom.”

She’s in no way or form ready “Okay. Next weekend I’ll look my best.”

Kara smiles in a dopey way “You always look your best.”

“How did you make me fall in love with you again?”

Kara takes a gulp of her wine “Trade secret.” 

There’s a silence where all they do is stare at each other, it’s intense, but in a good way. 

Lena spots the food coming, but has to get her thoughts out quickly “I don’t know what to do about Lex.”

“That,” Kara swirls her wine around in a mocking gesture “Is actually a good point. I don’t know either.”

“He already knows there’s something.”

Whatever Kara was going to say next is interrupted by the steaming plates brought to their table. After taking a hesitant bite, Kara is nearly salivating at the flavour. Several worshipping words are said about poularde, a few fetishizing things about French people, and then she finally comes up for air.

“He knows?”

“When we, _I_ , ended things, he picked up on my heartbreak. He was a dick about it, and equally considerate.”

Kara smiles “It seems to be his forte.”

“Yeah… Wait, how do you know that?”

Finishing chewing like it’s a life and death matter, Kara holds a finger up for pause “With my parents, he didn’t know, made an off colour joke about your mom, and then managed to be condescending while giving a heartfelt apology.”

“Classic.”

Once again shocked at Kara’s capacity to inhale food, Lena leans back, satisfied. Kara however, is fidgeting in her seat “I really want desert.”

Lena cocks an eyebrow “Then get desert.”

“Okay, but, you see… I want to be gross and high school and split it.”

Acting annoyed doesn’t work when Kara is staring at her with puppy dog eyes that puppies should take notes on “Okay, fuck. We’ll get lava cake.”

The waiter is able to smother his laughter when Kara blurts out ‘lava cake’ like a jeopardy answer.

An apology that’s basically a custom of dinner at this point and a sheepish smile thrown Lena’s way, and Lena’s decision is made. “Do you have any big plans for like mid March?”

Kara twirls her fork around with a devilish look on her face “Is this your way of inviting me somewhere?”

“Or I’m just trying to see if I can hang out without the old ball and chain.”

Kara rolls her eyes “I’m free.”

One last moment of cowardice “Would you like to come to my friend’s thing then?”

“Would this friend be Felicity?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Barry Allen ring any bells?”

Lena sighs in resignation “Were you already invited?”

“A few years in a row now, yes.”

“And you never went?”

Kara’s smile doesn’t reach her eyes “Now I have to get all sad on you.” Kara drums the table “Me and Mon-El met around then, so we used to do cheesy things around then. And… well yeah I’ve just done stuff with my family since then.”

Lena takes her nervous hands “You don’t have to come if-“

“I’d love to. That’s the point I was bumbling toward.”

The lava cake arrives, and they split it, being sickeningly sweet. Kara even feeds her a piece, and she can’t find it in herself to be as annoyed as she should be.

“You’re making me into a softy Danvers.”

Kara pops another piece into her mouth and gives Lena a chocolatey smile that should be disgusting “You already were.”

..

Some necessities stowed away, and they start to drive back to Kara’s. It feels right. Her mind feels right, like she’s not denying herself to appease a monster anymore. Kara draws soothing circles with her thumb, not knowing the problem, but dulling it regardless.

She hazards a look to Kara, who’s staring at Lena with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Kara.”

“Hm?”

“I want to meet your mom, but I never want you to meet mine.”

Kara puts extra effort into the soothing circles “That’s fair. She doesn’t sound like much of a fun time.”

“The less said the better.”

..

Kara leads her up the steps to her room, and she can feel herself almost dying in anticipation for it. Something she won’t push for, she _won’t._ But wants in so many ways.

Kara presses a kiss into the corner of her mouth “I want to say before we do anything. That this is still going to take time.”

Lena attaches herself to Kara’s neck, not daring to venture lower or higher in fear of anything changing.

“I literally have an ache in my thighs though.”

Not daring to acknowledge that with words, Lena looks up cautiously. The face she sees is one of love, one that’s well on her way to forgiving Lena for all of the pain she’s caused. “How?” She’s unable to stop the part of herself that believes in prolonged punishment for what she’s done “I was so awful.”

“I won’t let you off easy on that part, you were awful, but now,” She cups Lena’s face “You’re doing better. And I can’t forgive everything right away, but we can work towards better. I was blessed with two very different, but equally accepting families. You were given a mother who treated your sexuality as a flaw in your character. Our differences are what make us work, and even though I hate what this difference has done to you, I love you for you.”

Kara slams her into the mattress, and they squeak the headboard with each conjoined movement they make.

The words of love are said in a frenzied tone, like the more that they’re said, the better this will feel. A thumb brushing just the right spot makes her believe it.

Their eyes meet, and for a moment, everything pauses. All she can see and feel is Kara, Kara working her like there’s nothing else in the world, Lena moaning into her shoulder as she’s overwhelmed by the attention in the best of ways.

Tears start to fall, and Lena puts a hand over Kara’s own retreating one “Stay. Don’t stop.”

The tears fall more, and as Lena starts to understand them, Kara seems to understand them too. They’re tears of overwhelming pleasure, of feeling love with no boundaries, with nothing hidden. She feels crippled loving anyone this much, but she leans into the crutch, because this weight is so good.

“Kara.” She manages between laboured breaths “I-I love you.” When the last word is out, Lena unravels in her touch, guided with words that don’t reach her brain, and kisses that ignite her skin.

..

It’s a rare time where she wakes before Kara. Her phone tells her it’s eight in the morning, and now she’s thinking of the weeks of waking at eight with no purpose, crying and not letting herself examine why.

Kara is wiping away her tears, tears she didn’t even know were falling again “I know a really good LGBT plus counsellor, she helped Alex figure everything out when she discovered her own sexuality, and I think that she could hep you a lot.”

“Can’t I just talk to you?”

“I love you too much to be any good at that.”

She knows it’s true, _hates_ that it’s true. “Okay.”

..

Their vacation of sorts is cut short. She knows that this is the best reason it could be done for, and she’s not going to complain, not when all that Kara wants is for her to get better.

..

After a particularly grueling therapy session where her tears stream down so harshly she thinks they’ll turn to blood, she sees that another episode of the documentary series is set to be filmed.

_Not obvious, but not hidden_

Knowing what that means is beyond her own socially stunted intelligence, she’ll try regardless to respect it while Kara is going to be wearing athletically revealing clothing and flirting in her signature way.

..

Kara is sweating, and smirking. But this is all okay, this is no big deal.

“Lena!” She pulls Lena into a tight hug, hands resting just above her ass. “So good to see you.” She walks forward “I feel you’re familiar with the gym at this point, want to see the takedown strategy I have for Sara?”

“Does it involve your _hands_?” She puts an extra emphasis on the last word as some sort of rebuttal for the effect that Kara’s current state is having on her.

“Well,” Kara coughs in a way that only brings attention to her reddening face “All fighting does in one way or another.”

“Run me through the game plan with Sara.”

Kara hops into the ring and hoists Lena into it too “Well Mrs. Luthor.” She winks at the ‘Misses’ part “I plan to take the other Lance sister down in a similar way.”

“With a choke out?”

Getting close enough that it’s either threatening or sexual, Kara has a line of self satisfaction on her face “With skill.”

“This whole ego thing doesn’t fit the earnest image we’ve been building for you.” Lena crosses her arms, more to occupy her hands than anything.

“You don’t get to know the trade secrets. You just get to see some of them.”

“Show away.”

Kara and Barry show her a somehow even faster fighter than she’s known, one who can hit just as hard and avoid all of the strikes sent her way. “And,” Kara turns to the camera “Know how Sara loves doing that flipping thing?”

She knows that Kara knows the specific name for it “Oh yes, the famous flipping thing.”

“Well check this out.” Kara says, ignoring the sarcasm “Barry, you have good padding on your chin, right?”

He nods grimly, and shoots for her legs. Kara answers it with a knee to the chin that Barry takes with a groan.

“No telling though.”

Lena crosses over her heart.

Once Kara is done showing off, she mimes a few punches Lena’s way “Want to go a few rounds?”

“Depends on what that means.”

Kara coughs in a way that once again only draws more attention to the comment “Basically, just asking if you want to spar.” She clarifies lamely.

Lena stands close “I already know that you can easily lift me. You’ve done it enough times.”

“Oh wow, would you uh, look at that. Barry is… doing something.”

“Looks like he’s watching you, same as me.” She doesn’t know what’s possessing her to do this, maybe as some kind of makeup for the times that she’s denied this, maybe some good old fashioned exhibitionist flirting. Whichever it is, she can’t stop. “Waiting for you to say something.”

Her whole demeanor changes at that, and with a swift movement, she has Lena draped over her shoulder “You ready to get bench pressed?”

“Wait, wait! No!”

Kara brings them both low and starts to lift Lena above her chest in perfect form.

It’s as intimidating as it is hot. “Kara, put me down.”

“I’m trying to hit my personal best.” With a huffed out _3-2-1_ she finally puts Lena down. “Lesson learned Luthor?”

Lena stands with some subdued sexual frustration “Lesson learned.” The camera crew looks beyond shocked, Mxy is wide eyed, peeking out from behind his camera.

Kara scratches her head and leans in to whisper to Lena “I think we may have overdone it.”

..

In the back of the crew car with Mxy, she can feel the words unsaid hanging over them. 

“Should we expect more of that with Sara?”

Lena rolls her eyes “She’s engaged.” _Oh shit_ “And, that was just us being friendly.”

Mxy makes a noise of acceptance, but his face says it all.

“Was it that bad?”

He bares his teeth in an awkward placeholder for time “Bad isn’t the word I would use.”

“Oh so then-“

“ _Flirty_ would be the word.” 

“That’s not so bad. Friends flirt all the time.”

Mxy avoids her gaze “Here we are.” He sidesteps her to get out of the car faster, and the part of her that isn’t worried finds it hilarious.

The cameras trail behind her as she walks confidently into the gym, the layout not having changed dramatically since she’d last visited.

Sara is sparring with Laurel while Ava Sharpe watches with interest, the ring on her finger catching the light in a dazzling way. Ava notices them first, holding up a hand for them to wait until the sisters are done.

Lena sits next to Ava “Excited for the fight?”

Ava shrugs “Excited for her to be done fighting really.” She looks behind her at the cameras.

Lena smiles “I don’t have my mic on yet.”

Ava sighs in relief “I want to live a really full life with her, and if you stay in this sport too long, your brain turns to mush. She’s done a lot, and we both deserve a break.” She seems to realize who she’s talking to “Not that we don’t appreciate-“

Lena puts a hand over her moving one “Hey. It’s okay, I just do the marketing, Lex signs the cheques.”

“I just want us to be out of the spotlight for a bit, start a family, work on our history thing. Rory seems interested in joining up once his contract is done.”

“Yeah, I understand- wait, did you say Rory, as in Mick Rory?”

Ava laughs “I know, I know. He’s actually a really solid guy once you get to know him, and he’s like, weirdly good at writing.”

“Why wasn’t the documentary series about you two?”

Ava scoffs “Sara is leaving, and in a committed relationship, not a super engaging story there.”

“Agree to disagree.”

Sara hangs down from the ring to look at them “You disagreeing with my future wife?”

Lena looks up and does her best to keep her face as steeled as the one above her “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Sara’s face cracks into a frown “More people should, gives her a bit of a complex otherwise.”

Ava pulls her down for a quick kiss “You’re such an ass. Go look good in front of a camera.”

Sara ruffles her hair “Always do.”

Once Ava is gone and the cameras are there, Sara looks to Lena.

“I’ve been here before, and I know how all of you fight at this point. Why not tell me about the life you want after this fight, win or lose.”

Sara chews her lip in thought “Damn. That’s a good question. I guess just to be happy, start a family and business with Ava, hang out with my dad more outside of the gym. Finally, and _properly_ fix that old hot-rod that Ava and I met because of.”

“The ‘Waverider’ right?”

“You know the story?” Sara brightens up at it “I still can’t believe she was able to get it running. That girl is something else.” Sara sits down, propping her chin on the rope in front of her as the cameras scurry off to interview some other people “You and Kara then?”

“Huh?” Lena does her best attempt at denial.

“More people would be okay with it than you think. If there’s one thing I’ve learned with all this forced bonding, and the footage they show me, is that you don’t have any pull over the fights. Which is weird, because you’re smarter than Lex.”

Lena smiles “This way I can leave whenever I want.”

“You planning on leaving?”

She thinks it over, maybe in a few years “Not yet.”

“We’re still not talking about Kara.”

“How do you get the impression that there’s something to talk about?”

“Mardi Gras. All the pictures circulating.”

Lena looks behind her “It’s obvious then?”

“To anyone who isn’t straight, yes.”

Lena shakes her hand “In the name of bi solidarity-“

“That’s not really a thing.”

Lena continues, more forceful “Don’t tell anyone please.”

Sara squints in shock “I’m not cruel, just curious. You two are a nice pair.”

“Well,” Lena feels brave, and having Kara at her side in spirit helps her “We only started officially dating a week ago.”

“Have you never seen a movie? Friends with benefits never works.”

“I know, I know. And trying it with someone as nice as her, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Maybe,” Sara has the smile of someone who knows love all too well “You knew, a small part of you knew, and was okay with it.”

_Something for my therapist to unpack_. Before she can reveal any more secrets, the camera crew is back. “Any final words Sara?”

“I plan to put on a show, because win or lose, I’m going out with a bang.”

“That’s going to make a nice soundbite.”

..

She dials Kara once she’s out and on the street, smiling at the picture of her with a toothbrush in her mouth that somehow became the contact photo. 

“Lena! I was just about to call. Come over.”

“The fight isn’t til the day after tomorrow, so…”

“Yes Lena, we can have sex.”

She pumps her hand in the air to no one “I’ll be there soon. Have you eaten?”

“Nope. Bring me something.”

“That was missing a please.”

There’s a breathy sigh on the other side of the call “Lena, I will cripple you with orgasms if you bring me food.”

A few people pass her by as she clenches her thighs together, the sun beating down her now heated body and not setting fast enough “I hate you.”

“Love you too, see you soon.”

..

She calls her driver to take her home, and gets into her own car. She considers McDonalds, just to be annoying, then spots a Korean barbeque place.

With enough food to feed a family, or one Kara Danvers, she makes her way to her second home.

Kara swings the door open and snatches the food bag from Lena’s hands.

“Nice to see you too.” Lena quips as she kicks her shoes off.

Kara is digging into the food already “Oh my gosh this is so good.”

Lena sits next to her, playing with her hair as she devours the ribs with alarming speed. In no time flat, Kara has finished. “You’re insane.”

Kara wipes her mouth with a paper towel and stands “I have to go floss. Meet me in the bedroom?”

Lena nods and does as asked, laying on the bed that makes her sleep so well. The real reason she sleeps so well comes in with a cheesy grin plastered to her face.

“I love seeing you in my bed.” Kara straddles her and presses their bodies close, their tongues meet and Lena lets out a moan of pleasure. Clothes are gone, thrown to the wayside so that there’s less between them, and then Kara is between her legs.

She uses her tongue, her mouth, her fingers, making Lena kick out in agonizing ecstasy as she brings her over the edge again and again. “Oh my go-god Kara.” Kara looks up at her with a wet mouth and then dives down again, Lena grabs her sheets for dear life. If this is how she dies. So be it. Kara holds down her thrashing body as she licks her into another orgasm, only stopping to kiss her body in a worshipping way.

When Kara is done, Lena tries, and fails, to reciprocate “I think you broke me.”

Kara giggles as she draws circles onto Lena’s sensitive skin “You brought me food. I wanted to show my appreciation.”

“You’re ridiculous.” After some time for recovery, she’s able to get some of the same tired out of Kara. When the words of love spill out, she feels less of the latent anxiety, like maybe she can learn to accept herself. “Can I stay over?”

“I figured it was implied at this point. If I invite you over, I want you to stay.”

Feeling wanted, she sleeps.

When she wakes to the smell of something being cooked, and the way she settles into this home mentally, it doesn’t scare her anymore. There’s a comfort with her that she hasn’t felt in so long that she’d almost forgotten about it.

She breaks free from her blissful half sleep and makes her way down to Kara. She turns with a smile and flips a pancake, Kara’s own boring oats already eaten. She kisses the back of Kara’s neck “I don’t understand your diet.”

“Well,” She scoots back into Lena, putting them into comfortable contact “I don’t know either. My metabolism shocks doctors.”

Lena whispers into her ear “Burn the witch.”

Kara laughs and shoves Lena away “Sit down, the pancakes are ready.”

The pancakes, like everything that Kara makes for her, are amazing. “Did you put cinnamon in the batter?”

Kara smiles bright “I’ll make a cook of you yet.”

..

Lena puts her dishes away “I have to go make sure you look good for the fight.”

“Not like I need much help.”

Lena sticks her tongue out, feeling childish and happy as she leaves.

On the drive to the arena, there’s a host of calls that she has to take. Lighting is having some issues, sound is good but wants her once over. The drive has become such a familiar thing that she barely notices once she’s back in National City.

A loud car horn fixes that. Another call is trying to connect, **_Lucy Lane_**.

“Lucy!”

“You’re not dead!” Is the equally enthusiastic greeting back.

“I’ve been busy with the thing you three have been pushing me to do.”

Lucy grumbles on the other end “We’re all very happy that you’re in love, but I miss you.”

In that moment, she misses her too, in a very real way “Come to the fight tomorrow. It’ll be great.”

“Only if you promise to stay after Kara wins.”

“You just want to see James fight.”

Lucy breathes out, the phone giving it a crackling sound “You found something with a fighter, why can’t I?”

“Fair point. Alright, guess we’re doing it then. Roy and Slade are fighting again, so Thea and Felicity will be there.”

“I know these things because I haven’t been hiding in the countryside.”

Lena pulls into the parking garage “We had stuff to figure out.”

“I’m very proud of you.” Lucy says in a motherly tone.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Ass.”

..

In her dark room, she looks at the new binder she’s amassing, one that has the less racy shots of Kara. A gallery she’s thinking of doing should her and Kara become public, one that shows that this is love. It warms her heart, and makes her think of the day that they end up being public, there’s no stress anymore, just a happy flutter in her heart.

Her phone buzzes from outside of the room, and she picks it up without checking.

“Hope you haven’t been seeing too much of me.”

She smiles at Kara thinking there’s a world where that’s a thing “What’s up babe?” The pet name doesn’t send pangs of shock and internalized repression up her body, instead she feels warm, feels loved.

“Uh, so my mom is free today, and she… will you go out to an early dinner with us?”

“Of course. Where?”

“Oh really? Awesome, uh so how does four at Delaney’s sound? I’ll pick you up.”

“Sounds fantastic.” She didn’t have much in the way of plans today.

“Alex and Kelly will be there too.” Kara hangs up before Lena can protest it.

..

At insistent knocking, Lena opens her door.

Kara has a deliberately casual attire on, and looks like she’s been through the ringer.

“Are you okay?”

Kara exhales loudly “I am _so_ nervous. I really need you two to like each other.”

Lena takes Kara’s hands in her own, feeling weird at being the reasonable one for once “You love both of us, right?” Kara nods “And we love you. So why wouldn’t we like each other?”

Kara squeezes her hands back “Do you mind driving?”

“Of course.” Lena brings Kara down to the lobby, holding her hand in front of people, but knowing that letting go would just cause her more stress. Some spare them a second glance, but the regulars already know that Kara is a regular too.

Kara’s charming car has more oomph than she can handle, so she cruises at a low speed to Delaney’s.

Lena finds them a parking spot, charmed by Eliza, Alex, and Kelly, waiting for them.

“We can still turn back.” Kara offers.

Lena unbuckles Kara from her seatbelt “We literally can’t, they’re waving.”

“Oh gosh. Okay, okay.”

“The things that make you nervous…” Lena gets out, and sees shock on the faces of the three women.

Kara gets out and waves at them “Surprise.”

_Surprise?_

“This is the mystery woman.” Kara is holding her hands out in a displaying way.

“Kara.” Lena whispers harshly “They didn’t know who I was?”

Kara brings Lena close to her in a sideways hug “I panicked.”

“You panicked,” Lena smiles as they slowly make their way to Kara’s loved ones “And neglected to mention that your girlfriend is, you know, _me_?”

“I like when you say girlfriend.”

The family is too close for her to continue the argument.

Alex smiles “Was it you at the hotel then?”

Lena feels like she’s dying of embarrassment “Yes.”

Kelly smacks her lips “And it was you that set off the fire alarm.”

Lena pinches the bridge of her nose “We weren’t like… dating, at that point.”

Eliza, Kara’s mom, smiles “And you are now.”

Lena and Kara nod together.

“Let’s get in there then. I need to know who’s been occupying so much of my girl’s time.”

The place is modest, not some hole in the wall that you take someone to when you’re embarrassed, but also not a place where you’d take someone for a couple outing photo shoot. The waiter directs them to a booth and hands them menus. When they sit, Kara’s hand has found hers already.

“So,” Kara is looking at the table instead of her family “Yeah. Lena Luthor is my girlfriend. We’re uh, in love and stuff.”

Lena holds back a laugh “Couldn’t have put it better myself.” She jokes, pecking Kara on the cheek for her version of bravery.

Alex is giving her the protective older sister glare “How long has this been a thing?”

Kara chews her lip “Officially? Maybe a month. Unofficially… almost a year now.”

“And things are serious?”

Lena holds up their linked hands as evidence “Yes. I love her, despite all intentions to do anything but.”

Eliza nods “Because of how it would look?”

Kelly gets the table’s attention “If what Kara’s said about the documentary series is true, you’ll most likely get out of this unscathed.”

The waiter approaches their table “Can I grab you anything to drink?”

“Vodka please.” Kara says pleadingly.

Lena pushes her down from standing “Water please, for me and my lesser half.”

The rest of the table opt for water as well, and then they’re left to actually look over the menu.

Eliza looks at Lena with a sparkle in her eye “You two seem good.”

“Hmm?” Lena tears her eyes from the menu, and can feel Kara and Alex staring at her with equally intense glares, for entirely different reasons.

“You seem good together. She doesn’t get like this unless she really cares. And you care enough to humour this weirdness.”

Kara leans into Lena “She’s pretty weird, don’t give her too much credit.”

Lena feigns offence.

..

The meal keeps them from having to talk about anything personal for the moment, Kara’s leg leaning against Lena’s in a way that’s becoming familiar.

“Eliza, Kara tells me that you’re a doctor. How does that work with the nature of the sport?”

Eliza takes a healthy gulp of water “Not one to pull punches, are you? No pun intended. Clark aired out a lot of things that needed to be, so by the time that Kara was competing, the concussions weren’t as terrible a concern to me, earlier stoppages to fights and more strict fight ending procedures have made me… not exactly rest _easy_ , but rest better.”

“I was mainly asking to make sure that you don’t hate me for being such a part of the sport.”

“I’m sure over the year of _unofficial_ dating, you already know that Kara goes after what she wants. Even if I disapproved, we’d still be having this dinner, and Alex,” Eliza turns to her daughter, who’s staring like she can make Lena catch fire with enough effort “Would still be looking at you like that.”

Lena spares a glance at Alex, who has a wolfish smile on her face “Good to hear.” Lena gets up to use the washroom, and Alex follows.

“Be nice!” Kara and Kelly call after them.

Once in the washroom, she half expects Alex to slam her into the sink, but she just stands back from her, menacingly.

“You’re not fucking around with her, are you?”

“No. God no.” Lena would almost prefer to get slammed into something than for Alex to have so little faith in her “I love her.” 

“Even after Kate she wasn’t as broken up as she was about you.” Alex looks to the door “She was a mess.”

“You saw me. At the gallery, I was like a confused little kid with no clue what I was mourning.”

Alex approaches calmly now “Don’t break her heart.”

Lena falls back into the sink, relieved that she’s not going to get pummelled “I think at this point, she’s more likely to break mine.”

“What makes you say that?” And now Alex has a Danvers face of compassion, a far cry from the angry and beat down ready face of before.

“She’s so much better than me. So much more patient, nicer, loving. Not to mention she has her shit figured out, and she’s younger than me, and she-“

“She thinks all the same things about you. Except the age thing, obviously. I never knew who she was talking about, but it was clear she was head over heels for someone. And that she couldn’t tell me who, had me worried it was another Kate situation. Someone who was embarrassed by her.”

Lena runs a stressed hand through her hair “I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before. Is that sad?”

“It’s wonderful. Okay, overbearing older sister talk over, I actually have to use the washroom.”

Lena leaves, and almost runs into Kara.

“I didn’t hear anything, I just wanted to make sure that she didn’t bite your head off.”

Lena appraises herself “I feel intact.”

“And the two of you…?”

Lena kisses her, it’s not something deep, no tongue, strictly PG. But it feels like a stride forward. To kiss her _girlfriend_ , in public. “We’re okay. Can you meet my friends soon?”

“I already kind of know Felicity, but yeah, I’d love to do that March thing.”

“I love you.” She leans into Kara, her anchor, her port in a storm, her person. “I’m so happy this is working.”

“Stop looking at me like that. I have to keep to my no sex thing.”

Lena pouts “You’re so superstitious.”

“Shut up and continue to charm my mom.”

Lena smiles “Anything for you.”

Kara stomps off, the red in her face satisfying Lena enough that holding out to tonight shouldn’t be too hard.

When they’re sat back down, the conversation takes on a light tone. Eliza travels for work, she and her husband are separated, Kara and Alex are the lights of her life.

“And having two daughters in law wouldn’t be such a bad thing, I’ve always handled girls better.”

“And that’s enough of that talk.” Kara sputters.

“Oh no.” Lena puts a hand to her mouth “Are you saying the ring was a bad idea?”

Kara puts her head to the table “Why are you like this?”

“Love makes fools of us all.” Lena answers patronizingly.

Kara kicks her under the table. While Lena is feigning hurt, she spots a smattering of people with cameras clamoring to get in.

Eliza sighs “Now who told them? Kelly?” She looks at Kelly with an accusing face, then laughs it off and calls the waiter over. “How do we get out of here without dealing with that?”

The waiter smirks “For you Ms. Danvers, we already called the police. Loitering is a crime, and we have reservations for all of these tables.”

“You’re simply fantastic Patrice.”

He leaves with a smile.

Lena stares at Eliza in awe “Is being nice like a genetic thing with your family?”

Eliza points to Kara “Not entirely.”

..

They leave unscathed, Alex taking clear joy in flipping off the paparazzi across the street.

Lena stands awkwardly, her jacket feeling too warm for the situation, even with the cold breeze coming through. “It was really nice meeting you all.”

Eliza brings her into a hug that Lena finds herself eagerly returning “You seem great.”

They all pile into Alex’s car, leaving Kara and Lena in the parking lot to stand awkwardly.

Kara leans into her “Sorry for being such an awkward mess.”

“It was endearing, don’t worry.”

Kara fishes the keys out of Lena’s pocket and drives them to Lena’s place. When they pull into the parking garage, Kara seems calm, at ease. “I’m so glad we did that.”

Lena looks at the car clock “How much longer do I have you for?”

“An hour until J’onn will want me.”

Lena, with the knowledge of all that can happen in an hour, side eyes Kara “So…”

..

“If I don’t make it to the fight, it’s because I died in bed.”

Kara spares a look back at her “You’re my good luck charm, I know I’ll see you there.”

..

Lena is left to recover. A shower, cooking that isn’t half bad, and a makeover, have her ready for the trio that will crash through her door.

Said trio comes in with hushed whispers. Kara’s name is among the whispers.

“Okay,” Lena ushers them in with a bottle of wine, and lets everyone settle into the living room. “Let’s talk about it.”

Thea is pacing herself drink wise, and seems wiser for it “We’d have been able to talk about it earlier if you hadn’t hidden from everyone for the past month.”

Felicity and Lucy nod along.

Lena ducks her head in shame “That’s true. I’ve been seeing a therapist, and patching things up with Kara.”

Lucy puts a hand of comfort out, and Lena takes it “Do you want to talk about it?”

Lena shakes her head “Ask away about the Kara situation though.” 

“You’re official then?” Felicity asks.

“Yes. I met her mom today.”

Thea is fanning her eyes “I’m so proud of you. How was it?”

Lena takes a sip of her wine, if only to delay the frenzy of questions “Really good. Her sister gave me a pretty serious speech about not hurting her. Felt… I don’t know. It feels really good to not be hiding from the world, or from myself.”

Felicity takes a large gulp of her wine “Not hiding from the world means?”

“That we aren’t hiding. We’re not going to like _out_ ourselves, but we’re not going to hide it. Also, she’s coming to the ‘Why Isn’t there a Holiday in March’ party. So, you can save the questions for then.”

“We have to wait until March to meet her?”

“I don’t want to screw this up any more than I have already, please bear with me.”

Lucy does a salute “Aye aye.”

..

In the car ride over, none of them are as drunk as usual.

“Are we all sober?” Lena asks.

The driver laughs “Trust me, I’m just as surprised.”

Thea nudges Lucy “Someone told me to try and be sober for my boyfriend’s biggest fight, and I told her not to be wasted when she’s trying to impress James.”

Lucy flicks her “I am _not_ trying to impress James.”

Lena looks her over “You’re totally trying to impress James. And you will.”

“How do I even find him?”

“Let me lead you to him after the fights. Kelly will probably be there, so we’ll have a decent excuse.”

The entrance awaits them, and they walk it with style, the flash of cameras making her think of how many times she’s taken pictures of Kara.

Felicity shoots her a knowing glare “You’re so in love.”

“Fuck off.”

Lex is waiting for them, talking to Alex and Kelly like they’re life long friends.

Lena sits next to him “When did you get so cozy?”

“When you started dating my favourite new fighter.”

She leans in “Who told you?”

“You did. I had a hunch, because Alex Danvers doesn’t seem like someone who would be friendly to a man like me.”

Lena exhales in a mix of relief and frustration “You’re going to tell me to stop, aren’t you?”

“Nope. I think after the documentary releases, most people are going to beg you to date.”

“It’s finished?”

Lex makes a face of barely contained joy “I still can’t believe that they won’t let you see it. It’s going up tonight if Kara wins. All I can say is this, you should turn off your phones tonight, the _shipping_ is going to be unbearable.”

“Should I be worried?”

“No,” Lex looks to the octagon as the music putters out “All I can say is that Mxy is definitely a romantic.” 

“That’s so ominous, just tell me.”

“No.”

“Ladies and gentlemen.” Winn has the spotlight giving him an ethereal glow “Two title fights, an end to an amazing career, this is something that you have been waiting for, that _I’ve_ been waiting for. The moment to upend all moments.” He waits as tension builds, everyone knows why they’re there, but he decides when the words are said “Sara Lance versus Kara Danvers, Slade Wilson versus Roy Harper, and James Olsen versus Philip Kernowsky.”

He walks around the octagon, cheers and yelling building with each minute “With no further delay. Sara Lance, her last match, her defining match. And Kara Danvers, the women who seems unstoppable, the women made of steel, on a streak that has brought her to Sara Lance from humble beginnings. This is DEO fight night.”

Kara comes out to her usual, and no longer surprising, brand of hard-hitting rap. Winn hypes her up, listing her lengthening win list. When she steps up into the octagon, she smiles at Lena, and even after everything they’ve done, she blushes.

Lex chuckles next to her “You’re funny.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“A little bit.”

She turns in shock.

“No one will believe you.”

Before she can protest, Sara is coming out to a light pop song, a stark contrast to her intense aura as she walks out.

Winn has vacated the octagon, and now the ref has the crowd’s attention.

“Ladies, I want a clean fight. Touch gloves if you’re going to touch gloves.”

They touch gloves, and Round One begins. Sara is snaking her fists around Kara’s defence, landing effective shots on her body. Kara seems unshaken by it, like she was expecting it. Kara uppercuts Sara, interrupting her jab and sending her reeling. Kara ducks a punch going for her head and turns it into a chest kick. Sara goes to the ground and lays on her back in a defencive posture, the round ends before anything else can happen.

“She’s totally outclassed.” Lena notes aloud.

Felicity frowns “No offense, but I hope Sara gets her good a few times.”

Lena’s somewhat inclined to agree, though seeing her girlfriend get hit in the face isn’t a prospect she’s overly fond of.

Round Two starts with Felicity getting her wish. Sara jabs Kara in the face rapidly, stunning Kara enough that she retreats to the edge of the octagon. Sara closes in, hands held high, too high. Kara kicks her in the chest hard enough that her hands drop, Kara takes advantage and kicks her head in a whipping fast display. Sara retreats hard, hands up to sloppily defend against the flurry of punches that Kara is unleashing on her.

“Is this because of you?” Felicity asks, eye contact unbreaking with the fight.

“Honestly? I don’t know. She looks possessed.”

“She might beat Sam at this rate.” Lex says appraisingly.

Watching Kara duck a punch, Lena mentally prepares herself for the concept of her brother being a fanboy of her girlfriend. With how the fight is going, she also has to prepare herself for the idea of her girlfriend being the top ranked woman in the sport.

Sara brings Kara into a choke that looks dangerous, until she sees something close to a smile on Kara’s face. An elbow seems to be the reason, a well placed elbow that has Sara stumbling back drunkenly. Kara comes close, dodging punches that have Lena flinching in her seat. One connects, and Kara raises her hands, only to get a trio of fists in her stomach. Defencively retreating, Kara sends a kick that only serves to keep Sara at a distance. Sara comes in close, so close that Kara drops her hands.

“Is she giving up?”

Nope. Sara comes in closer, and Kara does a twirling motion with her body and fist. Her hand smashes into the side of Sara’s head, and Sara drops to the ground like her switch has been flipped.

Kara steps back, waiting for Sara’s eyes to flutter open. When they do, she jumps in joy and runs over to J’onn. The crowd is roaring in excitement, Sara put up a good fight, but this shows what everyone now knows is true, Kara is ready for Sam.

Lena stands and starts yelling, finally ready to be one of the obnoxious partners that her friends have been waiting for her to be. Kara looks down to her from the octagon and smiles brightly. Lena smiles back, mouthing _I love you_.

Barney comes on stage with a microphone “Kara, every time I think you can’t surprise me, you manage to do it again.”

“Thanks. What can I say? I have a great team backing me, my sister is calm enough with her wife that I might let her come back into the corner with J’onn.” She looks down to Alex and makes a kissy face. And I still have my good luck charm.”

Lena feels herself warm at the words.

Sara is good enough to be standing.

Barney asks Sara off mic if she’s okay, and she nods. “How was that for your last fight?”

“Couldn’t have asked for a better woman to knock me out. Her good luck charm is really nice too.”

Lena shifts in her seat “Can I-“

Thea nods “You’ve earned it.”

..

Through staff hallways, Lena makes her way to the changeroom. She texts Kara to let her know to expect company. Outside of where she expects Kara to be, she can hear arguing.

It’s Kara and Kate.

“There’s nothing between us anymore. I’m sorry, I was ready then, and you weren’t. End of story.”

A long pause, then Kate’s voice “She’s the one for you then?”

“I never said who it was.”

“I literally saw her mouth _I love you_.”

A characteristic huff of annoyance from Kara “Well then, yes, she’s the one for me. Please stop doing this. Our past is our past.”

“Okay. I just regret how things ended, and after Mon-El, it wasn’t fair of me to-“

“Kate. I forgive you. It was going to be somebody, I’m glad it was you.”

Sensing the conversation is over, and that she’s been eavesdropping, she hides in a corridor to the side. Kate passes by, and Lena walks into the changeroom.

“I thought I made it pretty clear-“ Kara looks up and smiles, taking her gloves off “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

Lena sits next to her and massages her worn out hands “I overheard,” She looks to the ground in shame “I didn’t know where to go when I heard the two of you arguing, and then you brought me up…”

“It’s okay. That’s a conversation me and her have had a few times, I think it stuck this time, seeing you being such,” Kara pokes her in the side “A love struck idiot.”

Lena shrugs “It’s your fault. Anyways, my place? Food, then watch the documentary?”

Kara lays back on the bench and shimmies her fighting shorts off “That sounds great to me. There’s one thing I want you to do first though.”

..

They leave through a back exit that is _supposed_ to be a fire exit.

“How did I not know that the alarm doesn’t work?”

Kara links their arms together “All the fighters decided that it doesn’t make sense this far back, so we may have kind of… broke it on purpose, and not told anyone.”

“You fuckers.”

As Lena drives them home, she thinks to the future, what their living situation is going to be. They could just as easily move into the other person’s place, she doesn’t see Kara giving up her parent’s home though, and as much as she pretends she can work from home, she’s too hands on for that to really work.

“We’re here.” Kara announces, letting Lena know that she was driving on autopilot.

They get out, and Lena realizes she’s made the subconscious choice to park in her aboveground spot. She makes the conscious decision to take Kara’s hand. She goes through the front lobby, ignoring her hammering heart, focusing instead on the thumb working over her knuckles, the woman she loves leaning in and whispering that she loves her.

When they get to Lena’s room, she’s ready to collapse. Kara, as usual, holds her up.

“Baby, you’re okay, we’re okay.” She kisses softly all over Lena’s face and brings them to the couch, kissing the tears away.

“I, I just don’t want my mom to do what she does. When she finds out, she’s going to be awful.”

Kara rubs into Lena’s scalp and her heart slows to something manageable “You should tell her. If you’re ready. Be done with it, with her hatred.”

Kara orders them something off her phone and when Lena clings onto her and begs her not to leave, she listens, asking the front desk to bring the food up. It takes until she has a slice in her mouth for her to realize it’s pizza.

..

“The documentary is on in a few minutes.”

Lena swallows the last bite and wipes her hands on napkins, needing to be presentable for some reason. “First tell me who won.”

“Roy and James won.”

“I wish I’d seen that.”

“First round knockout for both. Roy was stupidly better than his last match with Slade.” With the information out, Kara turns the TV on and switches it to the DEO channel.

The documentary starts with another Ron Perlman voiceover, and then hard cuts to:

**KARA DANVERS: THE GIRL OF STEEL**

_“Lena! What a gigantic surprise, I thought the cameras were here for a cooking show.”_

“No such luck.” Lena quips back as she enters Kara’s house, which now seems a lot more cute than Lena remembers.

“Why is your house such a _dump_ , you may be asking?”

“Wouldn’t have been my first choice of words.”

A cut to further in the house

“Well Lena, This is where my birth parents lived and passed away. And while I will always consider the Danvers my real family, the Zor El’s treated me fantastically, and I couldn’t let the place go to someone else.” She winks at Lena.

And they cut to her blushing.

Back to Kara smiling “Not with all this DEO money at least.”

Then they’re at the crawlspace, and Lena is watching through her hands at what they’re going to do next.

“I used to hide here with Krypto when the thunderstorms got too bad for both of us to handle. But with the smartest Luthor, how could I ever be in danger?”

“This is really sweet of you Kara, thank you for sharing this with me.”

Kara leans into her, and it’s clear that they’re flirting “With a face like that, how could I say no?”

A cut to the bedroom.

“You may be asking yourself ‘Zor El’ that’s an odd name.”

“I mean not really-“

“She doesn’t look Middle Eastern? Oh no is it offensive to assume a white person isn’t Middle Eastern?”

Lena looks halfway between amused and annoyed.

_“Well, the answer is a little disappointing.” Kara opens the door to a room with dream catchers everywhere “My parents were hippies.”_

Then it shows Kara’s gym from the outside, and cuts to the interior.

_Kara is hugging Lena, and this is the first thing shown that doesn’t look incriminating. “I’ll introduce you to J’onn first.”_

J’onn is smiling at the kids “You can all talk to Barney, try and look good.”

A kid that she remembers does a kick in the air “I know who he is Mr. Jones, and I’m gonna knock him off his feet.”

_It cuts to Lena smiling, and Kara smiling at Lena_.

She wonders if they were always this obvious.

_J’onn turns to Lena “Want to watch us spar and then give it a shot of your own?”_

Lena puts her hands up “I’m not really dressed for it.”

Kara shoves her, ever adding to their flirting “This is a gym for kids without a lot of money, do you really think that we don’t have clothes that will fit you?”

A cut to them in the ring.

Lena goes for a punch that almost makes her fall over.

“Need help?” Kara asks with a smile.

Kara guides her stance, and the cameras catch every touch “You need a good centre to punch from.” Lena attempts a punch with Kara guiding her. “A lot better, now rotate your hips as you go.” Kara’s hands slide to Lena’s hips and she moves her as Lena attempts to punch again.

_“Alright.” Kara goes back to face Lena, and you can see the want in Lena’s eyes._

Kara laughs beside her “I can practically hear the wedding bells.”

_Lena makes the right stance and swings out the way she was taught._

Kara’s ducks her punch.

“Oh ~~shit~~.” Lena leans down “Are you okay?”

Kara laughs loudly “Wow. That’s going to make for a good clip.” Kara falls to her ass, and the camera cuts to Lena sighing.

The cameras cut to later, Barney looking more professional than he actually looked that day.

“One last question before we leave, how can you afford all of this?”

Kara bites her lip “Oh. To be honest, barely.”

“Huh?”

“We get some grants, and I usually lose money on it.”

“Then…” The shock on Barney’s face is hilarious. “Why do you do it?”

_Kara shrugs “I can afford it, so why not?”_

The video shows all of Kara’s wins up to that point in a montage.

Lena is tense and amused “Were we always so… you know? Or is this the editing?”

Kara shoves a bagel into her mouth “Both. I think. Either way, this is romantic.”

They lock eyes “ _MXY!_ ”

The screen shows a wide shot of the marathon, and a few sentences explaining it pop up.

_It’s Lena and Kara at the start line “Do you mind if I ask why you’re interested in supporting this?”_

“I, after my parents died, there were a lot of supports to get me through it. And I heard that things were getting defunded, so I talked to Gemma, and we decided that us being here might get some publicity.”

A few yells sound off, and Kara’s face changes to one of focus “I’ve gotta go.” She runs off, looking back for a brief moment “Wish me luck!”

“Good luck.” Lena calls after her, like Kara is going off to war and she’s not sure she’ll come back.

Then it hard cuts to the end of the marathon, Kara and Gemma coming around the corner, hand in hand.

“Let’s get you that picture.”

Kara and Gemma hoist a yelling Lena up, and the TV shows the picture they got, the one that she loves their smiling faces in.

_Then there’s Lena guiding Kara by her hair while she carries her on her back, both of them laughing like children._

Lena groans “Oh my god we were so ridiculous.”

Kara nudges her “Ridiculously cute.”

They show Kara winning the next fight.

_At the gym again, Lena walks in._

“Lena!” Kara grabs her and hugs her tightly “It’s so good to see a friendly face that doesn’t want me to workout.”

Kara does a spinning kick and then hits the heavy bag. “That look good?”

It cuts to Lena’s leering stare. “Ye- yes.”

Kara smiles at the camera “I think I’m scaring my boss.”

The camera crew laugh, and Kara winks at Lena. The cameras catching everything she hoped they’d hidden.

It cuts to later.

Mxy gets Kara’s attention “Kara, can you talk about your charity work at children’s hospitals?”

This might be the biggest smile she’s ever seen Kara sport “Well, I first want to say, good job stalker. I had depressive episodes after the Zor-Els died, and… I eventually had to be hospitalized. Cat Grant of CatCo showed up and made me laugh for the first time in ages, she’d probably hate that I’m telling you guys, but she visited every month.” Kara looks off into the distance affectionately “That big softie.”

_Lena takes Kara into a hug that she sinks into “You’re brave for sharing that.”_

Kara is gripping Lena, getting comfort again.

_The TV talks about Kara’s next win, showing it from multiple angles and giving her a generous close up._

A look at Star City’s skyline, and then the gym Kara was using.

There’s a wide shot of Kara stepping out of the washroom “Is she here yet? I want to make a dramatic entrance.”

“Kara?” Lena face says it all, the excitement and the surprise mingling into a minor shock.

Kara waves at Lena “I guess I blew it.”

Felicity giggles “Worked for me.”

Kara weaves past the camera crew “Felicity? Lena has mentioned you, it’s nice to meet you.”

“She has?”

Kara looks surprised “I guess our friendship is a little more one sided than I thought,” Kara kicks Lena’s foot.

There’s a cut, then Lena and Mxy on their own.

“Your role in the DEO is something a lot of people want to know more about, can you clarify for the viewers at home?”

“I acquire venues, like stadiums, arenas, through renting, buying, one-time events. I then help set everything up for whoever is fighting, which is decided by rankings and by Lex in some ways based on viewing figures.”

“That’s a lot of stuff to do.”

“Well, it keeps me from the fighter centric part of the sport. Honestly, in terms of the DEO, Kara is probably the closest I’ve ever been with a fighter.” They have a close up of her smiling. 

They show Kara winning yet another fight, a slow motion view of Kara with sweat on her face whipping her hair back.

**Girls Night**

A camera is inside of a limo, filled with _almost_ all of the female talent.

“Lena!” Sara is down from the sunroof “I didn’t take you for the partying type.”

“Well,” Lena grabs the bottle of tequila “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” She smiles at Sara “I’m good at avoiding cameras.” She looks to the camera and winks before pouring shots for everyone. The car moves on.

The cameraman tries to refuse, and Sara looks up at him pleading eyes “Unless you’ve _quit_ , you have to join.”

The cameraman takes the shot, and from his point of view, it’s a shaky affair.

The rest of the car takes their shots eagerly.

Kara links her arm with Lena’s “What’s up boss friend?”

Lena links her arm back “That my new name?”

“Welllll,” Kara rolls her eyes at Mxy “You are both, aren’t you?”

“I’m hardly your boss. I don’t decide who fights, I don’t decide salary, I just make everything run smoothly.”

“As you’ve said a _million_ times.” Kara turn to Mxy “Literally every time I make a boss joke with her, she just tells me about how she’s not my boss.”

Lena nudges Kara with her knee “That’s an exaggeration.”

“Look at that, I think she’s scared to be my friend.”

Then they’re in the club, people packed in and dancing to the bass breaking songs.

“Me and Thea used to rule these places.” Sara is beside her.

Lena laughs, and has to yell to be audible “I always forget that you three grew up together.”

“Small world.” She drags Laurel with her to the bar.

The camera crew catch several snippets of conversation, and get a wide look of Kara dragging Lena away from the bar. Thankfully, they don’t see them in the photobooth, or what they did in there.

They show an infographic of the rankings, and then the highlights of the Sam versus Sara fight. _It shows Kara is up to fight Laurel next, and even though she knows the results of the fight, she finds herself tense._

“I am weirdly invested in this.”

Kara is glued to the screen “Right? Like, _I_ fought these fights, and I’m still worried I’m going to lose.”

_A shot of Lena walking into the Lance Gym._

Lena walks through the gym, then yells up to Laurel and Quinten. “Quinten, don’t wear her out.”

Laurel makes to punch Quinten for not paying attention, then taps his head before turning to Lena. “How about you come up here.”

Lena makes her way into the boxing ring. “You know that you’re the only person I’ve interviewed that doesn’t have an octagon to fight in?”

Laurel shrugs “My strong suit is my ground game. And I can wrestle here too.” Laurel looks to Quinten, who’s doing a dreadful job of not looking stressed “And I’m a sucker for old things.” She wraps her dad into a hug “Which is why I still have this fossil training me.”

Lena smiles “So, what can you share about the game plan?”

Quinten raises his eyebrows “Knock Kara out before she can knock Laurel out.”

Laurel shoves him, and he stays in place “She asked _my_ game plan.” Laurel stretches, and they get a flattering shot of her muscles that verges on pornographic “Kara doesn’t have the stamina for me. And I know that saying that is considered stupid, but I’ve never been knocked out, and she’s not going to be the one who does it. I’m going to bring her to the third round and take her out. She’s only been to the third round once, and I-“

Sara hops into the ring “Laurel, are you trying to guarantee that I end up fighting her?”

Laurel hugs her “Maybe I want to up the chances of us fighting.”

“Whatever you say.”

The three of them are linked together, and there’s pain flashing in Lena’s eyes, pain she thought she’d hidden better.

“The three of you are quite the picturesque family.” Lena finally says.

A seamless cut has the focus on Quinten.

“Might as well get the tear jerker part over with. I got diagnosed with a heart condition that can kill me if I get too stressed out.”

Laurel hangs off his arm “And we try our best to kill him.”

Lena shifts to a less sensitive topic “While I have the both of you here, Laurel, what do you think about Sara retiring?”  
Laurel makes a face “It’s a little sad that we won’t be the Lance sisters anymore, but I’m glad that she knows to get out when the time is right. And Ava is great for her, so… Yeah, I’m just happy.”

Sara hugs her tightly “You damn softy.”

Laurel squirms in her grasp “Not in front of the camera!”

There’s a shot of her watching with fascination as a young girl beats on a heavy bag.

Then it’s Lena going to see Kara again.

Kara ducks under a leg and shoves Barry away “Don’t knock me out in front of the boss.” Kara has turned to her on bouncing feet and with a bright smile “Lena, a pleasure as always to have you grace our gym.”

Lena puts her hands on her hips in a way that looks identical to Kara’s signature pose “What do you have for me Danvers?”

Kara jumps down to where Lena is standing “What don’t I have?”

They’re much too close, and the words have such an obvious double meaning “Well,” Lena gives an appraising look up and down Kara’s body, the camera catching _everything_ “A belt is one thing.”

Kara puts a hand to Lena’s shoulder, and she fights the urge to lean into the touch “I’m working on that.”

_Kicks and punches, the Kara and Laurel fight is shown in all its glory, with a close shot of Kara choking Laurel out._

“I’d like to pretend,” Kara says suddenly “That we weren’t that ridiculously obvious.”

Lena can feel her phone buzzing, and when she pulls it out, there are texts and emails blowing up her phone. “Lex was right.” There are several hundred tweets

**Gays assemble and watch this stupid sport thing, these two are flirting**

A picture of Kara and Lena standing too close is displayed. She gives a cursory glance to the comments, the vast majority are from people who aren’t even fans of the sport, just of the two of them. “We have a fan club.”

“They’re showing my day in the life segment, why are you being so rude?”

Lena puts her phone away “I already know what your day is like, we basically lived together for a month.”

_Lena is knocking on a door_.

“Lena!” She grabs her and brings her into a hug “What do you have planned for lunch?”

“Only one camera.” She stares at Mxy “And ribs.”

“Sooo,” They’re outside now, Kara pushing the weight on her feet back and forth “Where are you taking me?”

“Learn some patience. Even when I was your age, I never had such a-“ She grabs Kara and holds her still “Problem with waiting every once in a while.”

Kara nudges her shoulder “You also didn’t train professionally to beat up other women at my age. Too busy being smart I guess.”

“And you were too busy being beautiful for any of that studying nonsense.”

“Lena.” She waits for her to turn “You know my grades were exceptional. I’m more than a pretty face.”

“Much more.”

Then there’s a cut to them in the car

Kara is squishing Lena into the door “Lena, seriously, where are we going?”

“Ms. Danvers, please find yourself some patience.”

“No.”

She squishes Lena into the door more and the camera seems obsessed with them, even showing the driver eyeing them with amusement. “I _am_ the co-owner of the company you work for.”

“You control marketing and venues, the most you can do to me is give me a bad angle.” Kara juts her jaw out “If I had one.”

Lena sticks her tongue out and the camera catches the look in Kara’s eyes as she looks at it “An inflated ego doesn’t look good on you.”

“Yes, it does actually.”

The car stops, and Kara climbs over Lena, scrambling out of the car “You got a reservation? How?”

Minetta Tavern is shown, and an estimated wait time is displayed “I’m Lena Luthor, I pulled some strings.” She follows Kara out with a smile.

Kara hugs her “Thank you, Lena.”

“Anything for the _best female fighter_.” Lena says with sarcasm.

Kara blushes, clearly thinking of all the different contexts that’s been said in.

Once seated, Kara turns to the camera with a grin “A day in the life of Kara Danvers isn’t complete without Lena.”

Lena looks to the camera with a deadpan expression “She says she’ll stop competing if I stop being her friend.”

Kara leans over to Lena “People are taking pictures.”

“Look at us, who wouldn’t?”

“You do look quite… nice today.” She looks Lena over in a way that Lena is starting to understand that the cameras never missed “Dress pants are flattering.”

Lena leans back in her chair and lets her hair down. “Oh, this old thing?”

Kara is visibly strained. “Yup. Looks nice.”

There’s a cut to Kara earlier in the day, trying to read a book that Alex recommended and looking bored to tears, tactfully avoiding showing the section where they go to the washroom and defile it.

Then it’s back to the restaurant. The camera is showing Kara eating some hulking burger.

“Athletes need to burn a lot of calories Dana.”

The camera turns to a smiling Lena, looking as charmed as she felt in the moment.

It then pans to Lena’s salad.

“And here we have Lena, who has to be the most consistently boring person when it comes to food.”

“Hey. I like when you cook just fine.”

The camerawoman apparently captured both of their looks of shock.

“Well, crashing on my couch is punishment enough.” Kara says, unconvincingly.

Gotham is shown in glorious drone shots, looking like a city that’s coming back to life.

“Lena Luthor here for Kara Danvers.”

It cuts to J’onn, who smiles and guides her to Kara.

Kara is sparring with her sister, and turns to look at Lena, getting punched in the head as consequence.

Kara shakes it off “Lena!”

Lena smiles “Kara. Good to see you.”

She brings Lena into a hug “Yeah, because it’s been such a long time.” There’s a cut, and Kara is gesturing to the gym “It’s technically owned by Wayne Corp through some legal mumbo jumbo, but the owner Mr. Grayson was kind enough to let us rent it out.”

Lena sits on the edge of the boxing arena “You going to let us in on why you needed to be here for a week?”

Kara sits next to her, the distance between them closer than she remembers “Honestly? All about headspace, getting into her head and understanding where she comes from. I’m friends with Kate, but I don’t understand her fight mindset. Training with Gotham locals is helping me get her, and prepare.”

Lena nods, looking serious.

“The real question,” Kara has a devious look on her face “Is why are _you_ staying in Gotham for a week?”

“For you.” An elongated pause, Lena clearly panicking “For business, obviously.”

_They cut to Kara nodding along, looking more shocked than Lena remembers, probably because of her own shock at the time._

Kara laughs beside her “This thing is basically a relationship timeline.”

Lena grips tight to her arm “This is so cringey.”

_Kara nods along “Want to meet the trainers?”_

“Um, yes, definitely.”

Kate wasn’t available for interview, so there’s an awkward cut to the fight, Kara winning and looking gorgeous.

_They show the post fight interview._

“I already know this one is bad.”

Kara laughs “We lacked even the base amount of subtlety once we made things official.”

_The outside of Kara’s gym is shown, then Lena heading inside._

“Lena!” She pulls Lena into a tight hug “So good to see you.” She walks forward “I feel you’re familiar with the gym at this point, want to see the takedown strategy I have for Sara?”

“Does it involve your _hands_?”

“Well,” Kara coughs in a way that only brings attention to her reddening face “All fighting does in one way or another. You don’t get to know the trade secrets. You just get to see some of them.”

“Show away.”

Kara and Barry showcase Kara’s increasing talent “And,” Kara turns to the camera “Know how Sara loves doing that flipping thing?”

“Oh yes, the famous flipping thing.” Lena’s face is one of a patient girlfriend, which she’s now realizing she is.

“Well check this out.” Kara says, ignoring the sarcasm.

It cuts to Barry shooting for her legs, Kara catching him in the chin with her knee.

She mimes a few punches Lena’s way “Want to go a few rounds?”

“Depends on what that means.”

Kara looks flustered “Basically, just asking if you want to spar.” She clarifies lamely.

Lena stands close “I already know that you can easily lift me. You’ve done it enough times.”

Kara changes from intimidated to intimidating in an instant “You ready to get bench pressed?”

“Wait, wait! No!”

Kara brings them both low and starts to lift Lena above her chest in perfect form.

Lena’s face is red, looking more attracted than annoyed “Kara, put me down.”

“I’m trying to hit my personal best.” With a huffed out _3-2-1_ she finally puts Lena down. “Lesson learned Misses Luthor?”

Lena stands with some subdued sexual frustration “Lesson learned.”

The camera pans to Mxy, who looks beyond his own camera in shock.

_It hard cuts to the fight that just happened._

“How the heck do they already have this in?” Kara asks.

“Honestly? Blame Lex.”

_Sara going down is shown in slow motion. The frame comprised of Sara dropping and Kara with a face of focus._

The voiceover comes back:

**Sam Arias**

“I honestly think the majority of the woman’s division is a joke.” Is how Sam starts.

“Oh, do you-“

Sam looks at the camera “Literally the only opponent who even _somewhat_ interests me, is the Danvers girl. And she doesn’t take things seriously enough.”

Lena makes a face “What makes you interested in her as an opponent?”

Sam walks to a speedbag and starts working it “She’s a good fighter. J’onn is wasting his talents on her, but he’s making her into someone worthwhile. All of these wins are a hot streak, and I believe her first loss is who she really is as a fighter. She has a decent chance of working her way up to me. But, when she gets to me, that streak is ending.” She punctuates the promise with a hard hit on the speedbag.

“Do you think your team will be a big support in keeping you on top before that day?”

“It’s not the WWE, we can’t team up and pummel her. I’m going to be fighting Sara, probably knock her back a step or two depending on how she scores. Then I’m going to wait for Kara to work her way up, and knock her out.”

“Your confidence really isn’t played up for the camera huh?”

_Sam points to the camera hovering behind them “You’ll never know.”_

The documentary ends with showing the upcoming late March date for the Kara and Sam fight.

Lena looks to her phone, and the thing seems like it could catch fire. “Oh shit.”

**Are they dating?**

**Are they a couple?**

**They seem like they’re in love**

**Gay gay gay, there is something going on here, I don’t look at my friends like that, and neither do you**

It keeps going on, and with resignation, Lena follows Lex’s advice, and turns her phone off.

Kara nuzzles up to her “Well, I guess denial is going to be a harder option now.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the grand finale. This has been a joy to write, and I want everyone to know that I read all of the comments, even if I don't always reply.  
> Thanks for sticking around, and thanks for letting me tell this story.

She seriously considers kicking in Lillian’s door. Instead, she opts to open it with an aggressive swing.

Lillian is by the window, scowling as per usual. Lena gets close enough that her words won’t be lost to her degraded hearing.

“Mom. If I should even call you that, you’ve been nothing but awful to me about being bi. I’ve found a girl, a _woman_ , that I’m in love with. And I don’t care if you remember this, because even before you got like _this_ , you were awful. And I don’t owe you anything. But I’ll give you this. I’m happy, and you won’t see me again.”

Lillian looks dumbfounded, like some part of that got through to her.

With faint satisfaction, Lena leaves. Her donations won’t end, but her visits will. 

..

When she gets home and checks her phone, she sees that Kara is training.

**_Lena:_ ** **Don’t forget about the party**

A response, much faster than she expected, says not to worry. Of course, she still worries. Because this means they’re all going to meet the woman they’ve been pushing Lena towards for months.

**_Kara Danvers:_ ** **Home in five**

‘Home’. She smiles and puts the kettle on, and makes tea for the both of them. Social media and gossip rags alike are still speculating about the nature of her and Kara’s relationship. They’ve decided that when it finally gets out, they should say they’ve been dating since the Laurel fight, for image reasons, it looks a lot better than the hooking up they’ve actually been doing.

Kara comes in, kicking off her shoes and hugging Lena tightly.

“You’re so sweaty.”

Kara kisses her hair “And you’re so sweet.” Kara grabs a mug of tea, blowing on it before taking a gulp. “Ginseng?”

Lena nods and leads her to the couch “So,” Kara sits, attentive “The party tonight.”

Kara sips at her tea, not projecting any of the stress that Lena is feeling.

“They all know about us. And I’m nervous I guess.”

“What’s there to be nervous about?”

“They really pushed for us to be, well, _us_.”

“Ah, so there’s going to a lot of I told you so’s then.”

Lena leans into Kara “Yes. And they’re quite good at being annoying.”

Kara nudges her with her shoulder “I’m looking forward to it then, you’re not nearly annoying enough.”

“Thanks?”

..

The ride over to Felicity’s is one that’s filled with tension for Lena, and an ever present and annoying lack of tension for Kara, who’s driving with no worry.

“You seriously aren’t nervous?”

“Nah. You’re great, so I assume your friends will be too. And I get that this our first real couple type event with an audience, but we’re good, you know? I’m not worried about us, or about how we’ll be around your friends.”

Lena links their hands “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Quite dramatically once or twice.”

They stop outside of Felicity’s, the GPS letting them know that, yes, they’re here. Kara unlinks their hands and steps out, brave as always. Lena grabs their brownies and follows after a beat, quickly finding Kara’s hand again.

Halfway to the door, it opens, and there’s Felicity with a grin on her face that Lena worries will be one of many.

“Kara! It’s so great to meet you under more domestic circumstances.”

Kara smiles back “Weird phrasing. But I feel the same way.” She brings Felicity into a hug. They walk in, and the word that comes to mind is _overwhelmed_. There’s a banner that reads:

**You Figured it Out!**

“Oh my god.”

Kara is laughing, and Lena thinks being literally anywhere else would be preferable.

Thea is smiling devilishly “We had to.”

“You really didn’t.”

Lucy, Oliver, Thea, Roy, Felicity, Barry, Nia, the whole gang is here, an assortment of drinks between them all.

Congratulations are thrown around, a few people saying that they had a feeling, one or two I knew its being thrown around.

They somehow end up near Oliver, who’s laughing.

“What?” Lena asks accusingly.

“I’m not judging, I dated two sisters at the same time.” A story she very much wants to hear more about “It’s just cute that you two look so flustered. It’s basically an open secret, even before that romantic comedy pretending to be a documentary.”

“Are all of my relationships an open secret?” Lena mutters.

Kara bumps their shoulders together “You weren’t very tight lipped about it.”

Barry raises his hand like he’s in class “To be fair, I had a very strong feeling.”

“Me too.” Nia adds.

Kara looks to them, question obvious.

Barry takes a sip of his drink “Let’s be real here, you were a lot harder to get a hold of, you were uncharacteristically tight-lipped about why, and you’re happier than I’ve seen you in a long time.”

Lena shares in the cheesy smile that Kara is sporting “Guess we aren’t as clever as we thought.”

The party goes swimmingly, as it often does. Lucy is the most annoying about the status of their relationship, as is her speciality, Felicity is overly doting, and everyone else lets loose. When Iris shows up, Lena and Kara are comfortable enough that Kara is no longer latched onto her, mingling with Lena’s friends effortlessly.

“Feeling ready for the Sam fight?” Lucy asks the only person she could be asking.

This gets Lena’s attention.

“Notice the lack of alcohol? I’m going for her belt.”

Lena smiles, making her way over to Kara and Lucy. “Lucy,” Lena starts with a grin “Since when do you care about the DEO?”

“Ever since,” Lucy shoves her playfully “One of my best friends took a romantic shine to a certain someone.”

Kara smiles at this, and Lena feels a love that has her knees weak.

Once she’s fairly sure that no one is looking, she kisses Kara quickly. Exaggerated cheering sounds off all around them, and to her dismay, she sees that the whole party is clapping for them.

“Jesus you guys.”

Kara laughs with them, wrapping an arm around Lena “It’s cute that they’re so invested.”

“Ever the optimist.”

“With friends like ours, how could I not be?”

The party comes to its natural conclusion, that is, a babysitter with school in the morning needs to go to bed. Felicity apologizes over the phone profusely and motions for Oliver to evict the lot of them. With an easy grace, he gets everyone out in under five minutes. Lena tries to stay a silent goodbye, but Felicity hangs up the call.

“Nope. We’re talking for a bit.”

Lena and Kara stop in their tracks. Kara laughs nervously, and Lena tries to school her features. “Are you about to say something worrying?”

“Nope. Just sit on the couch.”

With what she feels is warranted worry, she sits.

Once Lena and Kara are seated, Felicity casts something from her phone onto her TV. “You already know that people are interested in the specifics of your relationship.”

They nod. And Lena wonders where this is going.

Several stats show up “Out of the hundred thousand tweets today, the vast majority were positive. The only negative tweets you’re getting are from homophobes.”

“And?” Kara asks.

“No one cares about your positions within the DEO. People are majorly supportive, and those that aren’t are just plain assholes.” Next, she shows a pie chart, and several other statistics.

“You went all out on this.”

Oliver chuckles “You should have seen the presentation for when she wanted to go to Hawaii for the honeymoon.”

Felicity shrugs “It worked, didn’t it?”

He nods with a smile “It did.”

“The gist of this then is, don’t worry?” Lena questions.

“Don’t worry.”

They leave, and the ride back has her, actually not feeling worried.

When they go up the stairs to their room, she slots herself into Kara’s arms “I think we’re going to be okay.”

“I do too.”

“I told off my mom.”

Kara plants a kiss on her cheek “I’m so proud of you. How do you feel?”

“Not _better_ , but better. If that makes sense.”

“It does.”

They go to bed, the looming fight suddenly not something she’s as worried about either. Everything is coming up Lena and Kara, after so long of things not going their way, she’s overjoyed that it’s finally working out.

..

When she wakes in the morning, Kara is halfway out the door. Lena chases after her with her camera, getting a patient smile as Lena clicks away.

“I need to get as many pictures as I can before my girlfriend becomes a bigshot celebrity.”

Kara rolls her eyes “Am I not already a celebrity?”

“Not a bigshot one.” Kara leaves at that, and Lena, feeling annoying, yells after her “First celebrity fit! Wait ‘til I tell the paparazzi.”

“I love you. Goodbye!” 

She cleans for an hour, and then when she starts to feel too much like a housewife, she heads to the arena they’re going to be hosting the fight at in a few weeks time. There’s buzz in the air that James Olsen may for once _not_ headline the fights for the night. Online interest in Kara seems to increase with each passing day, and even though James is Lex’s personal favourite, the numbers seem to show the general public has picked their new champion.

Barney is waiting for her “I’m so glad you’re here. The news is about to break.”

“Let me get out of the car first.” She rolls her window up and gets out.

“Sam and Kara are going to be headlining the fight. James isn’t even mad!”

“Good, to both I suppose.”

Barney waves it off as he leads them inside “James Olsen isn’t really the kind of guy who makes a fuss.”

“That he isn’t.” Which is a big part of why letting him go was so easy. “If someone named Lucy Lane wants to see him, can you be relaxed on the security?”

Barney sidesteps two men carrying banners of Sam and Kara “Is this what we would say is a… booty call?”

“Hopefully. Doing two friends a favour in a way.”

“That doesn’t tell me much, but I’ll see what I can do.” Barney disappears around a corner, and she has to assume that was his version of goodbye.

She’s sad to be cannibalising her own commercials, but… Cutting the promos to focus on Sam and Kara even more is easy, their rivalry and the prospect of the champion getting dethroned for the first time ever by Kara Danvers, the superstar who seems unstoppable, the woman who’s potentially seeing her boss.

That last part isn’t going in the promotional material if she has any say in it. Which she does, and the few snippets they’re trying to force in are vetoed by her.

When they run through the working copies, it looks amazing. Sam plays the villain perfectly, and Kara’s golden retriever levels of happiness have already made her into a fan favourite. The James and Ben fight is seeing the same good vs evil narrative. If there’s an upset in either fight, it will only drive viewership up for another rematch.

Not that Kara will lose.

The woman has somehow gotten even more buff in the training for the upcoming match. And if the amount of time she’s been spending outside of the house is anything to go by, she’s been training her ass off. James on the other hand, has very fierce competition with Ben. He’s improved monumentally, and she’s worried about an openly racist man getting a larger platform. Mostly satisfied, she heads home to see her -not so secret- girlfriend.

Kara is waiting on the couch, a non sexual glint in her eyes.

Lena attempts to look bothered “Now what do you have planned?”

Kara bounds over and kisses her “I want to go on a stargazing date.”

“If you haven’t noticed, the weather isn’t quite ready for that yet.”

Kara waves the notion off “That’s what observatories are for, genius like you, I’d expect someone to have taken you at this point.”

“You are way too good at flattery.”

“No such thing.” Kara is clicking away on her phone “Dinner at my place, then observatory for eight?”

Lena kicks her shoes off and drapes her light coat over a chair “What are we supposed to do until then?”

Kara cocks her head in question, and the answer becomes obvious.

..

Shrimp is sizzling, garlic and butter finally having a match for the smell in the air. Lena is lounging on Kara’s couch, unendingly curious as to what she’s making.

“You seriously won’t tell me?”

A laugh comes from the kitchen “What do you always love to say to me? _Be patient_.”

Resisting the urge to look on her phone for whatever it is that Kara is throwing together in there, she leans back, enjoying this moment of domesticity for what it is.

Kara comes in with two bowls of whatever it is that she’s made. “Garlic butter, shrimp pasta.”

It smells amazing “Listing the ingredients is the name?”

Kara smiles “I guess. Dig in.” She passes Lena a bowl of it and sits next to her.

As always, it’s amazing. Once they’re done, and they’ve had enough mouthwash that she feels comfortable kissing again, she pecks Kara on the cheek and sits back down “Any particular reason for that?”

“Comfort food.”

“For the first time in a long time,” She rests her head in Kara’s lap “I’m not worried.”

Kara barks out a laugh “Comfort food for me.”

Lena looks up into her eyes “Worried?”

“A little. Sam is, well she’s been the champ for such a long time with good reason.” Kara has doubt in her eyes that isn’t native to her. “I’m good, I’m really good. But she could still win.”

“Could is the beginning of doubt. And I’m not dating a doubter. I’m dating a wonderful woman who takes what she wants. Do you want to beat her Kara?”

“Of course.”

“Then say it.”

Kara smirks “I want to beat Sam Arias. I want that belt. I want to be the top ranked female fighter in the DEO.”

“And you will be.” She cups Kara’s cheek and brings her down for a kiss.

..

It’s a thirty minute ride out from Kara’s to get to the observatory. When they get there, she’s surprised by the number of people. They step out and _aren’t_ swarmed by people. There are a few people taking obvious pictures of them. But no one is willing to leave their spot in line.

Once they get in, she has a feeling as to why. The place is insane, glittering stars above them are the placeholder for things to come, everyone else starts to shuffle in as she’s distracted, so they find their seats. The screens shift to different planets, different galaxies, the majesty of them all undeniable when they’re so detailed, so in your face. The rings of planets seem to pop out, and Lena has to fight the childish notion to reach out, until she sees Kara reaching out with a lack of shame that she finds herself mirroring.

The observatory has her feeling like an alien when she steps out. The night air has some of the last memories of Winter whipping at her exposed arms. Kara brings her into a hug.

“You’re great.”

Lena hugs her back, thankful for the warmth, especially with the source. “Training in the morning?”

Kara nods against her shoulder “Do you mind if we drive straight to your place?”

“Nope.”

..

Time goes by quickly. A blur of half dates and soothing Kara’s anxieties in every way that she can. Using her mouth to say and do things that have Kara sleeping soundly, her hands rubbing Kara’s head, and in other spots.

“I love you” Is said enough that it isn’t scary, it’s returned enough that she doesn’t doubt it’s shared.

It seems like no time has passed at all, like getting coffee almost a year ago was actually a week ago, that first time she saw Kara berating Lex.

But time has passed, and she’s glad for it. She can’t imagine her life without Kara in it now, can’t imagine how things would be if she hadn’t lucked upon this amazing woman who had the patience to let Lena learn to love again. When Kara comes in that night, fresh off her last press junket for the fight, it feels normal, like it should.

Kara flops down onto Lena, and Lena pretends that her girlfriend isn’t crushing her. “Fight is soon.” She mumbles into the couch.

“Yup.”

“How are the promotional things going?”

“People really want you to win.”

She makes a noise of interest.

“And I want you to win. Even Lex.”

“Lex?”

“You’re a better champion, more personable. Having an emotionless champion is only good as long as they get dethroned.” 

“It’s strangely encouraging that me winning is profitable.”

Lena kisses her head, trying to wake her from this self-doubting daydream “Where’s the woman who’s on an undefeated hot streak? Where is she?”

“Right here.” Kara turns, and their eyes meet. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

“Never enough.”

As they make contact with lips, hips, and hands, she wonders if this honeymoon phase will ever end, because tomorrow is:

**SAM ARIAS VS KARA DANVERS**

Her phone reminds her in all capitals, like she’d somehow forget. She pushes the notification away, and is pleased to see that Kara is still tucked in tight. “Babe.” She pushes against the sleeping form. “Babe you have to get up, you always get weird when you oversleep.”

“Five minutes?”

Lena looks at her phone again and sets an alarm for five minutes, the leaves it right next to Kara’s head “Sure.”

Five minutes later, when her obnoxious alarm goes off, Kara half sprints into the room. “You little-“

“Shit? Fucker?”

“You little Lena.” Kara brings her into a cradle “I hope these clothes aren’t expensive.” And carries her into the washroom.

“Kara. Put me down.”

“If I say that I’ll make it up to you, would you believe it?”

“I mean, probably, I still don’t want you to,” Kara is carrying her regardless of her words “Fine, just do it.”

Kara brings them into the washroom and turns on the shower, having the decency to ask if Lena has anything important on her before plunging them both into the lukewarm water.

“You couldn’t even wait for it to heat up?” She sputters out between mouthfuls of water.

Kara laughs maniacally “Just remember why this happened.”

“Because I adjusted to your stupid sleep schedule?”

“Yup.” Kara strips her of the wet clothes in quick fashion and pinches her nipples “And here’s your reward.”

“Oh my god.”

Kara is deaf to her prayers, working her over with a combination of tongue and fingers that leaves her begging for more and less at the same time. That expert tongue finds its way into every place it needs to be. When they’re under the shower, rubbing bodywash over each other, she finally really sees the muscle definition that’s grown so much in the past months.

“You’re going to kick her ass.”

Kara knocks their heads together “I know.”

..

After ignoring another host of online rags trying to get her to say something that will give them a headline, she waits on bated breath for her friends to show up. For all of the brave faces she’s shown Kara at home, she’s worried about this fight. Sam is undefeated for a reason. She made Sara Lance look like a child pretending at fighting.

Lucy comes through first “Why did Barney insist that I stick around after the fights?”

Lena smiles from the couch “His eyes are on Nia, don’t you worry. I’m just meddling.”

Lucy plops down next to her and uncaps her wine bottle “Serves me right I suppose.”

“Oh yes it does.”

Thea and Felicity are next, both of them glowing with what is probably pregaming shots.

Thea frowns “For some reason, I thought she’d be here.”

“She’s literally fighting.” Felicity supplies.

“I know _that_. I just, you two are together a lot lately.” Thea looks to Lena as she finds a seat for herself and cracks open a vodka soda.

“Like, too much?” Lena asks, suddenly feeling self conscious.

Thea shakes her head and kicks out at Felicity as she sits “No. It’s called being in a relationship. Not that I’m an expert on the matter.”

Lena turns the TV on,

“Kara.” Someone with a microphone is following her into the building with a host of other people who opted for phones instead “Any comment on your rumoured relationship with Lena Luthor?”

Kara stops and turns to the camera, seemingly contemplating something, then once everyone is focused on her, she smiles sickeningly sweet “Nope.” And bolts off.

J’onn follows with a good-natured smile, and the TV cuts to Sam entering.

“Sam any opinion on the potential romance between one of the heads of the sport and your opponent tonight?”

Sam stops, dead expression changing to amusement for a split second “How many times do I have to answer this question? I’ve met Lena, I can say with certainty that Kara getting here, and losing tonight has been done on her own accord.” She pauses, makes the people give her space with a harsh glare “And congrats, I guess.”

They cut to commercials.

Lucy kicks her in the shin “Even Sam supports it.”

Lena mutters it back to herself _even sam_

Thea cracks open her second drink, and attention is shifted to everyone’s favourite drunk. “What? My boyfriend got his title back. Everyone is happy, let me celebrate.”

Lena decides to stay relatively sober, even as the rest of them tip close to oblivion.

She calls the car, laughing at the antics going on in her apartment. “Guys, Kara has to come back here later. Don’t make a huge mess.”

Several teasing choruses of _KARA_ come back as response. Her driver comes, fighting hard to not show how entertained he is by the girls and they make a good effort not to say much about Kara in front of him.

They come out of the car to the usual fanfare of questions, all of it muddling together into a noise.

“Relationship”

“Kara”

“Professional”

A lot of words are thrown around, she tosses up a peace sign and a goofy smile, morbidly excited to see what they make of that.

The fanfare when they get in is even more intense, loud jeering already from people waiting for the James and Ben fight to start, large images of the four main fighters of the night in their chosen poses on the jumbotron screens above them. She leads her merry band of drunks to their seats, landing next to Lex with a contented sigh.

“When are you two going to make things official?”

“I haven’t the slightest what you’re talking about.” Lena feigns ignorance.

“Whatever, when you do, just give me a heads up. I have lawyers ready to make it look good.” Lena gives him a look “Okay, _better_.”

The lights dim and focus in on Winn, who’s sporting a purple suit that, against all odds, looks good. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Have we ever got a card for you tonight, two five round fights, two fierce rivalries. James _The Guardian_ Olsen, versus Ben Lockwood. A rematch that’s a year in the making.” He pauses, letting the cheers and booing reach a dull roar “Then another fight a year in the making. The story of an immovable object and an unstoppable force. Sam Arias, VERSUS Kara Danvers.” The crowd is nearly deafening, screams of each fighter’s name battling for dominance of the soundscape.

Once things are settled, Winn starts to introduce James. “A man with no equal, James Olsen is a guardian to his community, and someone who has proven himself time and time again.” His signature song starts to play as he emerges “A patriot, a resilient force in the sport and in life. THE GUARDIAN!”

She sometimes worries for Winn’s vocal cords.

James gets into the octagon and moves around it, sizing up the space he has. Lena turns and sees Lucy nearly salivating, mentally congratulating herself on meddling less aggressively than her friend.

She presses her fist to her eye as Winn introduces Ben Lockwood, skirting around his racist views.

Ben comes out to a nice amount of booing, and a concerning amount of cheers. They screened people for confederate flags, but the fact that they had to do that is worrying on its own. The men meet in centre stage as Winn vacates it.

The ref signals for them to touch gloves if they’re going to, and the men, despite all of their differences, do.

Round One. James comes flying out with several jaw shattering punches, that don’t land. Lena swears she can hear them crackling through the air. Ben bobs out of harms way, swinging up and landing a fist under James’ chin. The crowd, and Lex ‘ooh’ at the hit, and James himself looks dazed by it. With continually surprisingly acrobatics, James does a spinning kick that catches Ben in the side.

Both of them give the other some space, throwing feeling punches that catch nothing but air. Ben moves in close enough that James lands a half slap, half punch. Ben cocks his head to the side, and both fighters smile. As James moves in to make that a full punch, the round ends.

Lucy slumps in her seat “That was anticlimactic.”

Round Two starts before she can formulate a proper response.

James is reserved this time, and gets a clean combo of jabs to the centre of Ben’s face. As Ben is dazed, James kicks him squarely in the chest, then follows that up with a closed fist that crunches into Ben’s shoulder. Moving in further, James almost has his head taken off by an arcing kick. Another kick goes out, and James catches his leg and twists him to the ground. James quickly mounts his chest, bringing down a volley of punches onto Ben’s commendable defence. Each punch that James gets in is answered by a knee to the back. Both are about to hit again when the round ends. James gives up his mount and goes to his corner. With a breath of relief, Ben does the same.

Lena is clutching the armrests on both sides, leaving Lex and Lucy to deal with the lack of space.

Round Three starts with Ben bringing the two of them to the ground. Arms and legs are brought into positions that would have her tapping in seconds, both men are sweating with effort, veins bulging angrily from their heads. It’s minutes of them getting grosser looking and more red in the face. When the round mercifully ends, she has no idea who won it.

She turns to ask Lex, and sees a man about as red in the face as the ones up there. She decides to stow the question away for later.

Round Four starts with both of them infinitely worse for wear. James is throwing ineffectual punches, and Ben is responding with equally weightless ones in response. The round looks primed to be a disappointment, then a fire ignites in both of them when the last minute begins. James lands punch after punch on Ben’s chest, and Ben answers in kind, landing kicks on James that have Lena thinking of their first fight.

An uppercut followed with a head kick, and James looks primed to fall. Ben comes in close, clearly thinking the same. With a weave of his head, James is out of harms way and his fist becomes a rippling force across Ben’s head. Ben crumples to the ground and James stumbles forward, almost falling onto Ben in his victory. James gets to his feet with his hands held high.

The crowd goes nuts.

“JAMES! JAMES! JAMES!”

“GUARDI-AN! GUARDI-AN!”

Lex is among the loudest of them, spit coming out as his support becomes genuinely frothing. Lucy is alert, and Lena knows it’s time to strike. “Find Barney.”

Lucy nods “You’re sure about this?”

“Very. Go get him.”

As she leaves for the washroom, she catches the gist of the humble win, and the surprisingly humble defeat. For now, Ben will have to be okay with second place. The sport will live to not be racist another day.

She heads back as Winn takes the stage again. “Sam Arias. The reigning champ. The undefeatable, the woman who has never been taken past the third round. You’re scared of her, I’m scared of her. She has come to _REIGN_!” 

Sam comes out to her usual intense orchestra, clad in all black, anger palpable. When she gets into the octagon, she just stands in her corner. The lack of movement is, plainly put, horrifying.

Winn widens his eyes in shock “Okay then.” Winn pauses and waits for the music to switch and flourish into the hard-hitting rap song that Kara Danvers is known for. “Versus Kara Danvers, The girl of _steel_. On a win streak that seems unstoppable. Friends with everyone, and a threat to every single one of her opponents.”

Kara comes out, looking like her usual happy self, the focus in her eyes not dimmed by the frankly odd display by Sam. 

They’re both on centre stage now, and Lena can feel her heart pounding to escape her chest. Lucy and Lex both put reassuring hands on her shaking arms.

The referee stands between them “I want a clean fight ladies.”

Round One begins.

They touch gloves, and Sam springs back from Kara, making distance with her arms. Kara comes closer, feeling out the distance with ample caution. A solid kick against Sam has Kara coming in closer, but ever so slowly, still wise to how good that Sam’s ground game is. Kara throws a punch high, then hits Sam in the side with a kick. Sam tries for a punch that Kara dodges with ease, following the attempt with a punch of her own. Sam dodges that punch in kind.

Kara swings her leg up, then down onto Sam’s leg. Sam literally shrugs it off, and jabs out quickly, catching Kara in the face twice. Like a shark that smells blood, Sam comes in fast, trying for another combination of punches. Kara scrambles back, guard up and a healthy dose of fear in her eyes. With her fervor for more hits, Sam lets her guard slip. Kara stops suddenly and kicks up into Sam’s chin, making her reel back and lose her mouthguard.

Round One ends before Kara can press the advantage.

Lena sits back, feeling sweat pool. “Jesus Christ.” She looks to her friends and sees the sentiment mirrored in their expressions.

Round Two starts with Sam pressing forward, clearly enraged after losing that first round. In a quick motion, both of them are on the ground, and Kara is defending against an arm threatening to choke her out. Lena is half out of her seat watching Kara’s carefully placed arm defend her neck against the relentless pressure that Sam is enforcing on it. Both of them look like their eyes are as likely to explode as their arms. The ref is close by, seeing if Kara is going to tap. Lena knows she won’t, she worked too hard to lose like this. The seconds tick by painfully slow, until mercifully, the round ends. Both of them splay out on the mat. J’onn helps Kara up, and Sam gets up on her own.

After a pep talk in Kara’s corner and the commentators practically shitting their pants about Sam finally being brought to the third round:

Round Three begins.

The way they’re moving, you’d think Sam was the one who was fighting off a choke for a whole round.

“Why is Sam the more tired one?”

Lex laughs beside her, focus not shifting from the fight in front of them “Trying to choke someone out and failing is more tiring than fighting it off. Takes a lot of energy to attempt something like that.”

Kara kicks Sam’s leg, something like anger crossing her features.

Thea laughs “Is Kara angry?”

Kara kicks again and shifts away from the pawing punches that are thrown her way. It’s not anger, she’s enjoying herself. Sam clocks Kara with wide punches, and some of that amusement goes away. But not all of it. With pep in her step, Kara draws near, weaving her way out of the windmill of strikes thrown her way. Then, when she’s close enough to do something, she ducks her head and sends a straight jab into Sam’s kidney. Sam tries to shove her back, and Kara kicks her leg again.

“Is she trying to break her leg?”

She forgets her own question as Kara kicks again, and then takes a dizzying punch to the jaw.

Lena stands, and before Sam can pounce, the round is over. Lena sits, feeling very much like the overdramatic girlfriend that she’s slowly becoming, Kara, in a mostly straight line, finds her way to her corner.

J’onn is checking on Kara, asking if she’s still good to fight. Kara nods. J’onn gives her a healthy amount of water and then sends her back out into the fray.

Round Four begins.

Kara is literally and figuratively on her back leg, retreating from a confident Sam. Every punch that Sam tries for is met by a backstep and a kick to the same leg that Kara has been punishing the whole fight. Sam is getting slower as Kara is getting her faculties back. The retreat becomes a tactical step forward, a hit that Sam winces at, another painful looking kick, and a round that was Sam’s is now Kara’s. It’s the same pattern the whole time, Kara takes a punch here and there that Lena may or may not yell about, but she’s winning. Before she can make winning into a win, the round ends. 

Barney is freaking out in the best of ways “We are seeing history tonight. Kara Danvers may dethrone Sam Arias. She’s already set a precedent, getting all the way to the fifth round.”

Round Five begins.

Kara comes out guns blazing, wanting, no, _needing_ , the win. Kick after kick connects to Sam’s leg. One more deadly kick comes out and cracks into Sam’s leg. Sam wobbles forward, and Kara grabs her head, bringing it down into her knee viciously. As Sam is dazed and stumbling back, Kara punches in a pure line of kinetic energy. Sam’s stumble becomes a fall, and she goes down.

Kara stares at her fist, like she’s shocked by what she just did. It takes until Sam is opening her eyes moments later in a flutter that it finally registers.

“SHE FUCKING WON!” Lena jumps up, and the crowd follows suit, erupting into mayhem.

Felicity has spilled on herself in the commotion, and her friends are all standing with her, clapping and screaming like their lives depend on it.

The belt is put on Kara, and she’s beaming the whole time.

Barney works his way past J’onn and Alex “Kara, Kara. Can you tell us how you did that?”

“What can I say, hard work,” She turns to the camera and winks “And a little bit of good luck.”

Barney laughs “And where is this good luck charm?”

“For me to know, and you to find out.” She drapes a sweaty arm over Barney’s shoulder “Seriously though, J’onn, Alex, all the women I had to fight so I could get this far. I have so many people to thank, and not enough time for you to squeeze more ads in.”

The crowd is still at a constant roar that Lena realizes her and Lex are a part of. 

Barney smiles at that, then approaches Sam like someone would approach an angry dog “And Sam, what are you thinking tonight?”

Sam shrugs “She’s clearly better. My contract is up, so I guess I’ll spend some more time with my daughter.”

Barney struggles to process the information “A daughter? Wait, are you quitting?”

Sam is already walking off, not a care in the world.

The cheering gets even louder.

“Hey Lex,” He’s cheering, so Lena jostles him again “Lex! Consider this your warning.”

She rushes the stage and finds her way past a team of security by making a ‘you know who I am’ face.

Kara is pumping the air in victory, the belt on her waist glittering in the lights. She finally sees Lena and smiles her thousand-watt smile.

Lena runs to her and cups her face in her hands, unable to help herself “I love you.” She brings Kara in for a kiss that she meets eagerly.

Somehow, the crowd gets louder.

..

It’s been a month since they made things official, or more accurately, a month since Lena outed them in a spectacular way.

Kara is bouncing in anticipation for Lena’s gallery.

“It’s my gallery, why are _you_ anxious?”

Kara smiles and flicks Lena’s cheek before kissing the mark away “And half the pictures are of me.”

“Fair, I’m only making you stay for an hour.”

Kara opens the door, impatience showing through action now “That’s an hour of people looking at me half naked.”

Lena chases after her -now retreating- girlfriend “You have almost all of your clothes on in these ones.”

The car ride over consists of them both gripping each other’s hand in anticipation of what’s to come. They step out and are bombarded by a slew of flashing cameras, unwelcome, but fitting for a photo exhibition.

Once inside, Kara whispers in her ear “Did you go for the cheesy name?”

“You’ll see.”

There’s a large gathering of people who turn and clap overwhelmingly when they walk in with their arms hooked. James and Lucy are there, Felicity and Oliver, Thea and Roy, Barney and Nia of all people, and Lena notes with a smile, Lex.

Kara unhooks Lena’s arm and laughs with bubbly joy when she sees the name Lena chose. “I love it.”

“I love you.”

Kara holds her close and they stare up at the large title.

**_A presentation by Lena Luthor: Picturing Love_**


End file.
